Famulus
by Super Sister
Summary: A famulus is someone who is like family, which is why the two words sound so alike. Only that famulus doesn't mean family, is not related to family and has nothing to do with family. Kind of like the kid that won't leave Shigeo alone. Ageswap AU.
1. The Proclaimed Worst Retail Employee

The Proclaimed Worst Retail Employee

~ And Reigen ~

Retail. All the world is built on its strong shoulders. Diligently providing mankind with all its needs, be it the necessity of toilet paper or the overly indulgent enjoyment of films. It never tires or rests. Everyone, from those in the powerful world of governing politics to the lowly, thuggish gangs surviving on crime-riddled streets rely on the world of retail for the fulfilment of their daily needs.

And if not for retail's good and loyal employees, who would sell sandwiches to hungry salarymen? Who would hand athletes their direly needed refreshments? Who, indeed, would make sure children got their daily dose of sugar? Yes! The world relies on retail and retail, in turn, relies on its hard-working and diligent employees!

Kageyama Shigeo was not one of them.

Having slept passed his alarm (again), he arrived late to work (again) and was thusly yelled at quite extensively by his manager (again), who proclaimed that he had yet to see another employee with as long a tardy list (that was new).

As soon as Shigeo could, he slunk away to work, stacking shelves. He relaxed and focused on work within minutes. And it had all been going well, until an old man insisted that they were still selling some product Shigeo was certain had ceased production over thirty years ago. Of course, the man would not listen to him and after an hour of arguing (in which Shigeo was largely silent, while the man yelled at him), the elderly gent stormed off and complained to the manager about the useless employee. Shigeo suffered another bout of yelling at from his manager. As it turned out, the product had restarted production recently and was on display in a very visible section of the shop.

Shigeo went back to work, keeping the new display of food product in mind. Then a child started crying in the corridors, having lost its mother. Shigeo tried to help, but for some reason, his presence just scared the child more. On the up side, the child's cries managed to attract its mother. On the down side, the mother accused Shigeo of quite a long list of unpleasantries and promptly went to complain. Another bout of yelling from the manager.

Eventually, he was relocated from shelf-stacking to working at the cash register. Things were smoother there, for a while. Most customers were in a rush and never spared more than a few words if necessary. Then a woman tried to reduce the sum price of her shopping by using her feminine charms. Thankfully, Shigeo's loyalty to the store stopped him from obeying her whims, but that resulted in her angrily making a very loud fuss in front of all the other customers, before calling the manager over and complaining that Shigeo had been harassing her.

The manager did not yell at him that time. No matter how poorly the manager thought of him, even _he_ knew that Shigeo could never harass anyone, ever. Still, Shigeo was asked to go back to stacking shelves for the day, while someone else took over his position at the cash register.

It was a little after five, when Shigeo's bland day-to-day business was interrupted by an incoming text. Although he instinctively wanted to ignore it, since he was currently working, a small flare of curiosity urged him to just quickly check what it was and who it was from. He seldom received texts. He hurriedly looked around himself, to see if anyone else was in the corridor with him. Not seeing anyone to watch his actions, he quickly whipped out his phone and read the text.

~ AAAH! HELP ME! I'm at the abandoned house I was talking about yesterday. Hurry up or I might diiieee! ~

Shigeo hesitantly put the phone back in his pockets. He didn't even need to look up the name to know who it was from. He sighed tiredly and tried to decide what to do. On one hand, he couldn't know for certain that the kid was fine. Sure, the boy had unquestionably cried wolf more times than he could count, but Shigeo also happened to know how that particular tale ended. He was not eager to be partially responsible for such an end.

On the other hand, he was at work and the abandoned house was quite a bit away. Too long to simply take a quick break. If he wanted to help out, he'd have to leave work early. To make up for it, he _could_ work overtime on a later day… But that might not be possible anyway. He'd already arrived late to work that morning and had seen his manager no less than three times for reasons that were definitely not good.

Leaving early, in itself, didn't look good.

But what if something serious was happening to him?

He sighed and finished stacking the shelves. Then he went to his manager and politely asked if he could leave early. He thought for a moment his manager would refuse, but instead, the manager nodded.

"Things are slow this evening. But you _were_ late to work today and you're leaving early…" his manager trailed off.

"I'll work overtime another day. I promise," Shigeo answered. There was a pause.

"Fine. It't not like _I'm_ the one missing out on pay. Off you go," the manager replied dismissively. He didn't bother to ask where Shigeo had to go so abruptly. He didn't care enough to ponder such a thought, even though this had started to happen increasingly often. Shigeo thought he didn't mind the manager's lack of interest or care.

10%

He hurried towards the location at a brisk pace, hands in his coat pockets. He refused to run. This had happened so often, that he was certain the situation couldn't be so dire that it required running. Of course, the speed of his stride clearly disagreed with him on that, as it tried desperately to turn his walk into a run. It was a little after half-past five when Shigeo arrived at the abandoned building.

He entered it, observing the rooms. Salt was splattered everywhere, hazily thrown in every direction. If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought that a violent war against snails had taken place there. He listened carefully and could hear some hushed voices, that were trying to hear him coming.

"It's about time!" a voice spoke out, above the others. It wasn't hard to recognise. It was a deceptively warm and colourful voice, belonging to the one person that was the bane of Shigeo's life, ever since they met three years ago. Shigeo rounded the corner and looked into a new room. Reigen smiled lazily at him.

"Sorry to call you out here, but it's too powerful for me," he explained, gesturing at the ghost, floating nearby. The ghost was covered in table salt and looked rather fed up. Shigeo also took note of two students that were with Reigen. They looked a puzzling mix of terrified and annoyed. Shigeo looked back at the ghost and frowned slightly enough that the shift in expression was barely noticeable.

"This is a very weak ghost," he stated. "You should be able to handle it on your own."

"W-well yeah, and I normally would!" Reigen hurriedly retorted. "But I used all my powers on this other ghost I came across earlier today. Don't have enough juice left to get rid of this one," he explained, waving it off.

"Why didn't you just run away then?" Shigeo asked in his usual quiet, monotonous voice. Somehow, it still managed to portray enough emotion that Reigen knew exactly how Shigeo felt at that moment. Reigen couldn't help but gulp nervously.

"Um, duh. I'm working for clients?" Reigen answered, waving his hands at the two students with him. Shigeo returned his attention to them. Their mood had shifted into nervousness for some reason. He noted that they wore a different school uniform from Reigen.

"You're not from the same school?" Shigeo asked.

"No! No, we aren't!" the girl hurriedly explained. "We, uh… Professional psychics are way too expensive and we heard that Salt Middle School had a psychic club… So we went to them for help with the Ceiling Crasher, but they didn't pay any attention to us! At all! Probably because of Taro the _doubter_ …"

"What? I didn't…" the boy (Taro…?) started, but the girl continued without hesitation.

"… We were told about a freelancing psychic at that school though, which is why we've, um… I guess employed Reigen-kun now. I-I'm Hanako and this is Taro, by the way," she hurriedly explained.

"Why wouldn't the psychic club help you…?" Shigeo began to ask, but the ghost interrupted him.

"This is your secret weapon?" Ceiling Crasher asked Reigen, waving a hand in Shigeo's direction. "Some guy in a dead end job? Guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you're just a kid. Of course you'd be relying on such a loooooOOOO-"

Shigeo had raised a hand and banished the spirit in mere seconds. He looked back at Reigen once the dust had settled.

"Run away next time," he ordered, although his voice wasn't particularly commanding. "Refund your clients if you cannot exorcise the spirits yourself." He leaned slightly closer to Reigen, telekinetically dusting dirt off the teen's school uniform. Reigen subconsciously shrank away "And unless it's a real emergency, _don't_ call me when I'm at work. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Sir! Thank you so much!" Hanako suddenly shrieked, grabbing Shigeo's arm and jumping up and down with joy. "That ceiling crasher ghost has been giving me nightmares for months now! I can- I can finally sleep! I'll be able to study again!" she cried, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes. Shigeo was a little taken aback. She didn't notice his reaction, but let go of his arm and linked her arm with Taro's instead. Her joy was infective, as Taro lit up too.

"Yeah, thanks sir!" Taro said. "The ghost said he'd haunt me too, but now he's gone, so I don't have to worry about that! And you helped Hanako! Thanks for helping my girlfriend!" he continued, as happy and enthusiastic as Hanako.

"Girlfriend…?" Shigeo asked, a little puzzled. Weren't they a little young to be dating…? Reigen suddenly latched onto Shigeo's arm and smiled smugly at him.

"And _that,_ " he explained, gesturing towards Hanako and Taro, who were talking to each other happily and excitedly. "Is why I don't like running away."

* * *

Shigeo poked at his food. Those two kids had been really happy that they were free of that ghost. What was its name again? Ceiling crasher? That's what the girl had called it anyway. How had it gotten such a silly name…?

Conclusion: Reigen liked making people happy. At least, that's what he wanted Shigeo to believe. To be honest, there _was_ something satisfying about seeing the kids look so… Relieved? Excited? Optimistic? Maybe something else? Those were certainly pleasant expressions…

But… was it worth it? Was it really worth getting into more trouble at work to exorcise a _ghost_ , of all things? A _weak_ ghost that had been foolish enough to manifest physically? A ghost that Reigen could have exorcised on his _own,_ had he listened to Shigeo about the difference between plain table salt and purified salt…

"Well, Shigeo?" his mother asked. Shigeo sat up straight, looking up at his parents. "How's work?" she repeated. Shigeo hesitated for a moment as he did his best to remember what they had been talking about, before he finally shrugged.

"So-so," he answered. She frowned.

"So… nothing new?" she asked. "No excitement at all?"

"Well, um… No…" he replied, unwilling to talk about the three incidents that had happened over the course of the day.

"Honey, you're not going to drag _this_ back up again, are you?" his father asked, sighing deeply.

"What?" she asked, doing her best to look innocent. "I'm just asking how his day was!"

"No, you're trying to bring up his choice in work again," his father responded, folding his arms.

"I was not! And there's nothing _wrong_ with talking about it. I'm just a little concerned! Can't a mother voice her concern anymore?"

"He's a full grown man. He can make his own decisions," his father argued.

"Yes, but it's a dead end job! There's nothing he can do there! Shige, you're better than that. You can _do_ better than that. There are so many other things you could be doing that actually _have_ a future. Wouldn't you like a job that's more suited to your talents and skills?" she asked. Shigeo looked at his food with a concentrated expression. Then he shrugged.

"My current job's ok…" he answered. He wouldn't know what else he could do anyway.

"But it's such a soulless job!" his mother complained. "I would understand if you were working such a job as a young student that's trying to make end's meet, but you're not! You need a proper job," she insisted. "Like Ritsu. Why can't you be more like him?"

"Mum, you can't really compare us to each other," Ritsu defended, smiling nervously. "We're different people and we both have very different interests. Besides, in my case, my job was more of a calling. Not everyone wants to become a police officer."

"You just told me the other day about a policeman that acts more like a thug than a decent member of society. Conclusion, anyone can be a police officer."

"I think the thug's in it for the power, mum. So you still need a motivation to _want_ to become a policeman. My point is, I don't think Shigeo's interested in working for the police."

"It's true. I'm not," Shigeo agreed.

"But that's not my point," their mother argued.

"Dear, don't hassle Shigeo anymore. We've had this discussion a thousand times. He likes his current job, so he should keep doing it. That's what we agreed, remember?"

"Um…" Shigeo mumbled.

"You _are_ happy with your current job, aren't you Shige?" his father asked.

"Um…" Shigeo repeated. He couldn't say he _was_ happy with it. He didn't hate it, but he didn't enjoy it either. It was simply something to do during the day. It wasn't what he'd wanted to do as an adult, it had just sort of… happened. It was a normal, average job, so Shigeo felt satisfied with it. So he thought.

His parents shared a worried look.

"Hm, let's talk about something else then. Ritsu, how's things going with Seo-chan? We haven't seen her in a while…" their father asked.

"Oh, well…" Ritsu stuttered. "We're… not seeing each other anymore."

"Huh? But you two seemed so happy together!" his mother exclaimed. "And you were getting serious! Weren't you talking about marriage the other day?"

Ritsu poked at his food.

"Did something happen?" Shigeo asked. Ritsu didn't seem to want to answer.

"Yeah, kind of… It's complicated," he explained. "All that matters is… We agreed it's for the best."

"Oh, well… Sorry to hear that son," his father said, in an effort to be comforting. "Guess she wasn't the one, huh?"

"I guess not…" Ritsu agreed.

"Well, that's fine, dear," his mother added. "These things do happen, after all… It's good she never moved in though. Imagine what a hassle that would have been! Living together makes for a very messy break-up…" she continued. Ritsu didn't comment and instead, once again, shrugged. Shigeo watched his brother silently for a few moments, then returned to eating, unable to come up with anything that might comfort him. Ritsu sighed and waved a waitress over.

"Can I have some more water, please?" he asked. She nodded and hurried off to get it for him. "You know, apart from what happened with Mei- with Seo-san, I've been doing pretty well," Ritsu continued, unable to handle the awkward silence anymore.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We've made significant progress in our current case. I'm very happy about that. I mean… Our finds are… A bit worrying, but if we work hard, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Well, that's excellent news," his father cheered. "I'm guessing you'll be in the news again soon, huh? I can't wait to hear about another one of your solved cases. There's nothing my son Kageyama Ritsu can't do!"

"Dear, not so loud. We're in public."

"Bah, I don't care. They oughta know how proud I am of my son. Of _both_ my sons!" he announced, grinning. Shigeo paused from his soup to smile at his father and was about to say something, when his phone started ringing.

"Oh, Shige, you haven't turned your phone off?" his mother tutted.

"Sorry mum, I must have forgotten. Um… Can I take this?" he asked.

"You might as well," she answered. Shigeo took out the phone and turned away from his family in an effort to give them space to continue a conversation, as well as get a little privacy. He absentmindedly played with the spoon in his free hand.

"Hello? Kageyama speaking," Shigeo spoke.

"Ah! Kageyama-san! I'm so glad you picked up! It's me! Reigen Arisu!" Of course. Reigen's mother. Why was she calling…?

"Oh. Hello."

"Hi, hi! So, um… I was wondering if you're free this evening?"

"Why?" Shigeo asked, a little surprised.

"Well… Tonight is parent's evening and I was originally supposed to go, but…" she trailed off and left the sentence hanging.

"But…?" Shigeo prompted.

"Ah, I got a call from the hospital! One of the nurse's has called in sick, so I've been asked to cover his shift. And I- I kinda said yes? As you can see, I'm, uh, kinda in a pickle here! 'Cause I'm _supposed_ to go to the parent-teacher meeting, but now I have to cover a shift and I made two promises and I can only keep one- Ahem… So, um… Do you think you can go instead? In my place?"

"What about your husband?"

"As said, _I_ was supposed to go tonight. You know how very busy we are with our jobs, which is why we take things in turns, usually… And it's my turn tonight. Please help me! I don't know what else to do! Or who else to turn to!"

Shigeo frowned.

"Well, the thing is, I'm not legally responsible for him…" he started, but instantly silenced when Arisu began sniffling. "Um… Are you crying?" he asked.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I know I shouldn't be dumping my problems on you! It's just that you spend all your time with Ara-chan, so I thought, well, what difference does it make if you go? You might as well _be_ his guardian, considering all the trouble you get him out of! And you're very reliable, you can tell us what's wrong and…. You spend so much time with him…"

"It wasn't my intention to end up spending so much time with him," Shigeo unwillingly responded.

"I know, I know, I just… I don't know what to do!" Arisu continued. "I mean, I want to take the shift, because we- we could use the extra money, you know? And the hospital needs me! Please, please help me Kageyama-san…" she begged. Shigeo hesitated for a moment. His grip tightened around the spoon.

"I'll go. Just please… Stop crying…" he said. "When is the parent-teacher meeting?"

The crying stopped so suddenly, Shigeo almost suspected that he had only heard crocodile tears. He dismissed the suspicions instantly though.

"It's at eight," Arisu answered.

"That's in half an hour… You realise I'm in town at the moment don't you? It will be difficult for me to get there on time…"

"Oh! Sorry for inconveniencing you then! And thank you so much for your help, Kageyama-san! You can meet with Acchan at the school. He'll have a letter from me, explaining that yes, you are there in my place. Again, thank you Kageyama-san!"

"Ah, but…" _Oh. She hung up._ Mob frowned. Going to the parent-teacher meeting in place of Arisu Reigen really was inconvenient. Especially since Ritsu was treating him and their parents to a nice meal at a nice restaurant. That didn't happen that often. And to be called out of the blue just like that…

45%

"Shigeo! What have you done to that spoon!" his mother suddenly cried. Shigeo looked at his hand, that was still clutching the spoon… Or what used to be a spoon.

"Ah," was all he could say, as he looked at the mangled, twisted remains of something that didn't even vaguely look like a spoon. However, after a moment of shock, he focused and managed to revive the dead spoon. It wasn't quite perfect, with visible dents and scratches, but at least it was usable as a spoon again. "Sorry," Shigeo meekly apologised.

"That's been happening a lot more lately. Is there something that's upsetting you?" his father asked. Shigeo shook his head.

"Not anything particular, no," he replied.

"You know, it's a shame really. Here I'd thought you had grown out of it, but here you are, at twenty-eight years old and still bending spoons at random…" his mother muttered, sighing. "At least you fix them now."

"But honey, he hasn't done this in _years_. Which is why… Are you _sure_ nothing's wrong?" his father asked again.

"You can talk to me too, if you want," Ritsu offered.

"Um, no, no, I just… Um… I have to go," Shigeo finally said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" his mother asked, alarmed. "There _is_ something wrong?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no, nothing like that. I'm sorry, but I've been asked to stand in for someone, just now. That's what the phone call was about… Um… Thank you for the meal, Ritsu."

"No problem. It's a shame you have to go so suddenly, but I guess if you're needed elsewhere… Who are you standing in for?" he asked.

"Um…" Shigeo stuttered. Ritsu sighed.

"Is it that kid again? You know you _can_ tell him to get lost, right?" Ritsu asked. "If he's being a bother," he added.

"No, it's… It's fine," Shigeo reassured him. "I'll see you all again later, right?"

His mother sighed. "Ritsu's right. It's a shame that you have to go so soon, but… It can't be helped. Have fun doing… Whatever it is you're doing," she said, smiling softly.

"Yeah, see you soon, son," his father added. Shigeo smiled and hurriedly left. Ritsu said nothing, instead watching his brother exit the restaurant. His gaze lingered on the entrance for a moment, a hint of bitterness visible… And then he was talking to his parents again, about more pleasant things, as if that emotion had never even been permitted to surface.

* * *

"Mob-shishou!" Reigen greeted, waving him over.

"How often have I told you not to call me that?" Shigeo asked, as he panted for breath. Reigen handed him the letter.

"What…? Shishou?" he asked.

" _Mob._ "

"But… That's your name…?" Reigen asked, in mock innocence. Shigeo sighed.

"From a long time ago," he corrected. "No one calls me that anymore. So please don't."

"Ok, Mob-shishou."

47%

Shigeo gave up and began walking towards the school. A couple came out, just as he was about to enter and held the door open for him. Shigeo thanked them, then entered… to find Reigen in front of him again. The kid must have slipped in while Shigeo had been talking to that couple…

"Aren't you going home?" he asked.

"Do you even know where you need to go?" Reigen retorted. Shigeo didn't respond, his gaze instead wandering over to other parents and guardians attending parent-teacher meetings that night. Reigen huffed.

"I'm just following you to the classroom. I _obviously_ won't follow you inside," he explained. Shigeo hummed approvingly. Although he knew there had to be something else that Reigen wanted to gain out of this (since he never stayed or was overly helpful if it was unnecessary), Shigeo wasn't particularly interested in figuring out what Reigen's ploy was. That was something that Reigen's _actual_ parents were supposed to do. "Also," Reigen continued. "I need someone to take me home afterwards. Or do you want the Kuchisake-Onna to get me?"

"What's that supposed to be?" Shigeo asked. Reigen gasped dramatically, feigning shock.

"You don't know?"

"Nope," Shigeo answered. He glanced to Reigen and the teen instantly knew to drop the subject. Reigen rolled his eyes.

"Doesn't matter anyway," he announced, thumb pointing at a classroom door. "We're here. Takane-sensei awaits."

"The door is closed," Shigeo murmured. "Do you think that means there are still people talking inside?" he asked.

"You'll never know if you don't knock," Reigen disinterestedly answered, as he inspected his fingernails. Shigeo sighed, then knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Takane called back. Shigeo reluctantly started to open the door. Before entering, he shot one last look at Reigen, who gave him an unhelpful thumbs-up in response. Shigeo, in turn, gave him one last, flat look, then entered. He looked at Takane, about to greet her properly, when instead he found himself saying "Tsubomi-chan?"

"Mob-kun?" she replied. The two stared at each other for a few moments, surprised. Then Shigeo started turning red.

"Ah! Sorry, I probably shouldn't have called you that, it's- it's Takane-sensei now, right? Or can I call you Takane-san? I mean…"

She smiled, warmly. It had been a while since he had seen her smile like that. Well, no, it had been years since he'd even _seen_ her.

"If you want to call me Tsubomi-san or Takane, you can. I don't mind either way," she answered. He hesitantly smiled back. "Can I still call you Mob-kun?" she asked.

"O-of course! I mean… No one calls me that anymore, but it's what you've always called me, so…" he agreed.

"I'm glad. Please, take a seat," she spoke, waving at a free chair opposite her desk. He hastily took it. "I was… actually expecting Reigen-san right about now," she admitted.

"Oh, yes, right" Shigeo replied, hurriedly digging out the letter from his pockets. "Here," he said, handing it to her. Tsubomi read it.

"I didn't know you had a connection to Reigen-kun," she finally said, folding the letter up neatly. "You're his shishou? What are you teaching him?"

 _I haven't a clue._

"This and that," Shigeo answered. "Um… psychic… things…" he added, when she looked sceptical.

"He's an esper like you?" Tsubomi asked, surprised.

"He says so, yes," Shigeo admitted. "We met when he was exor… Ghost hunting."

"Ghosts, huh? You believe in those?" she asked, bemused. Shigeo decided against answering and his gaze drifted away from Tsubomi.

"Just out of curiosity, Reigen-san failed to mention why she's suddenly unavailable. Do you happen to know?"

 _Yes._

"No, sorry…" he answered. Tsubomi sighed.

"Well, never mind then. Shall we start?"

Shigeo nodded.

Tsubomi began telling him about how Reigen was performing at school, as well as his behaviour in and outside of class. Over all, Reigen performed fairly well, with good grades in all subjects. In class, he had a tendency to zone out, but that was quite normal for kids his age. His class participation didn't show any sign of his daydreaming becoming damaging to his education.

She did voice her disappointment in Reigen dropping out of the athlete's club. Reigen had been a part of it in his first year, but had decided to leave by the start of the second. When she had asked him why, he had simply said that he was now fast enough to 'run away'. There was no reason to keep going.

"Maybe he wants to join a different club?" Shigeo suggested. Tsubomi looked thoughtful.

"He… He did once mention… Mob, do you remember there being a telepathy club at this school?" she asked.

 _I was part of it._

"Vaguely," Shigeo answered.

"Well, that club disbanded when…What was her name… Kuroba-san…?"

"Kurata Tome-san."

"Yes her! When she graduated middle school, the club disbanded. But now we have a different, um… special club in its place. The psychic club. Reigen-kun mentioned wanting to apply to that, but he never did."

"Oh," was all Shigeo had to say to that. Perhaps Reigen had decided against it, because he had a real (adult) 'psychic' to help him out? It was significantly better than a handful of kids who only claimed to be psychic… On the other hand, Reigen had known him for three years now, so did that _really_ explain suddenly not wanting to join…?

Tsubomi sighed deeply.

"It concerns me, you know?" she asked. Shigeo looked at her questioningly. "It's not just his leaving his club… It's also…" She paused. "Reigen-kun is… charismatic and charming, but he seems to have difficulties making any real friends."

"Is… Is that so?" he asked.

"There's no reason for him _not_ to have any. He's very personable. But something about him… I think something about him drives other students away. It's possible that there's nothing he can do about it… But… It doesn't match his character. I'm worried that it's mutual. That he distances himself from others and they, in turn, distance themselves from him."

"Oh." Shigeo looked at his feet. "Hm."

She once again sighed.

"I've been observing the interactions between Reigen-kun and his classmates. I still don't know if it's one-sided or not."

"Oh. Someone should talk to him then."

"That would help," Tsubomi agreed. "I'm actually relieved to know that Reigen-kun has another adult in his life."

"Really? How come?" Shigeo asked.

"I've met his parents several times and have seen how Reigen-kun acts around them. It seems to me, he doesn't really listen or talk to them," she admitted. "At least, I don't think so. But perhaps he'll listen to you."

"To me?" Shigeo asked, frowning, although Tsubomi probably didn't notice, seeing as his face wasn't particularly expressive.

"You _are_ his shishou."

"But you're his sensei."

She sighed.

"He hears me, but he doesn't _listen._ Perhaps in Reigen's case, the fourth time's the charm," she said quietly.

"Four is unlucky," Shigeo unhelpfully pointed out. She smiled.

"Perhaps not for Reigen-kun," she said. "Either way, for now it's just something to keep an eye on. It doesn't seem to be serious yet."

"That's… good?" Shigeo asked, a little unsure. She looked grimly at the letter from Reigen's mother. She then let out a deep breath and looked back at Shigeo, with a less serious expression.

"Well, thank you for coming, Kageyama-san," Tsubomi finally said. It seemed their allotted time was already up. Shigeo would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. She once again smiled at him.

"It's good to see you again, Mob-kun," she softly admitted.

"Ah, you too," Shigeo replied. He hadn't thought he'd ever see her again, let alone _talk_ to her again… "It's been a while," he added.

"Yes. I haven't seen you since we were kids. It's a shame we didn't go to the same high school…" Tsubomi mused.

"We did."

"Huh?"

"We did go to the same high school."

"What… We did?"

"Yes."

Tsubomi suddenly felt, very, very embarrassed.

"Right, right! University is when we went separate paths!"

"Yes…" Shigeo quietly admitted. Although, he and Tsubomi had gone "separate paths" all the way back in elementary school… They just happened to go to the same schools for a while.

"I wonder how the others are doing… Did you stay in contact with anyone?" she asked.

"Um… There's… Ritsu…" he murmured. She laughed. It was a pretty laugh.

"Your brother doesn't count," she playfully scolded.

"Huh, well then… No." he surmised.

"Come to think of it, neither have I. Perhaps we should meet up some time then? It'd give us a proper chance to catch up and I'd love to talk to you again, properly."

For a moment, Shigeo was Mob again. He was that teenage boy with a helpless crush on his childhood friend. He was stunned into silence.

0%

"Mob-kun?" Tsubomi asked.

"Oh, ah, yes, me too, me too, it would be…" He paused. "… Good."

She smiled.

"Unfortunately I won't have any real time for the next few evenings, what with the parent-teacher meetings. They last the entire week… Of course, I'm always free from ten onwards. We could get a drink together. It's late and we won't be able to talk for long… But I think it could be a nice change of pace. Well, for me at least."

"I wouldn't mind," Mob admitted after her words had finally processed inside his brain. She wanted to get a drink? With _him?_ Of course, all implications seemed to strongly suggest that it was just as friends _,_ but spending any time at all, alone with Tsubomi, was more than he could have ever asked for. Her smile brightened. She picked up a pen and wrote on the opened envelope from Reigen's mother.

"Here's my phone number. Call me when you have time."

He accepted it and got up to leave, then hesitated a moment.

"Ah, wait…" Mob stuttered. He tore off a piece of the envelope and wrote his own number on it. "You can call me when you have time too," he explained. "I'm probably not as busy as you are," he reluctantly admitted. His life mostly consisted of his family, work and Reigen. She was a sociable teacher though, with probably loads of friends and tons of other obligations, so she _definitely_ had far more on her plate to deal with. She looked at the envelope piece he was offering her, then she graciously accepted it.

She was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Oh. That will be the next set of parents," she muttered, sounding a little annoyed.

"I'll leave then," Mob announced, pocketing Tsubomi's phone number in his coat. She once again smiled at him.

"Ok. See you soon."

"Yeah…" Mob quietly replied, as he stumbled out. He opened the door and came across a mother and father. He squeezed past them as they tried to force themselves in, as if they were in a hurry to get the meeting over and done with. Reigen was, of course, standing nearby. He was also rubbing the back of his head.

"What happened?" Shigeo asked.

"One of the parents, uh… Saw me leaning against the door and thought I was eavesdropping. Told me off for that," he explained. "I wasn't, of course! It's just these dumb idi- parents jumping to conclusions."

Shigeo sighed, but didn't comment further, instead turning on his heel and walking toward the school's exit. So that had been Reigen's ploy. Eavesdropping. Probably to learn what the school had to say about the teen. That wasn't so bad.

"Let's go home," Shigeo finally said after several moments of silence. Reigen ran after him.

"So… _Tsubomi-chan_?" Reigen asked curiously.

"We knew each other as kids," Shigeo flatly explained.

"Is that so?" Reigen muttered. "You know, she's wrong about me. Not that I was eavesdropping, but I don't have to be a genius to guess what she was talking to you about."

"And?" Shigeo asked after a pause.

"And she's wrong. I don't have any of those problems."

"Problems?"

"You know. Like a lack of friends. That's not a problem, I just don't bother so much, you know? I don't see any reason to _have_ friends _here_ … But if I wanted to, I could make some, _easy_."

"Huh," Shigeo responded. _So it_ is _mutual? Or is Reigen lying to himself…? Or is it one-sided after all…? I don't know…_ "You know, I didn't really get a chance to eat earlier. I'm kind of hungry now. What about you?" Shigeo asked. Reigen looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I could eat," he admitted.

"Want some ramen then?" Shigeo offered. Reigen nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

 **This is pretty much going to follow the canon as closely as it can, without actually being the same story. I'm definitely going to take it up till the Mogami Arc, but any further will have to be seen. Since the chapters are relatively long (who knew that one episode is roughly equivalent to 6000 to 7000 words?), updates will be slow. I've decided to stick to Japanese suffixes, although if I'm getting them wrong, I'll go back and edit the entire story to be without them.**

 **'k bye!**


	2. Doubts About Business Part 1

Doubts About Business

~ Awakening Labs appears ~

Kurata Tome believed in the supernatural. She knew that aliens existed (or at least, she was fairly certain of that fact). She also knew that telepathy was what was needed to reach them, to communicate with them.

Telepathy was real. Telepathy was attainable. Her dreams were within reach.

In her pursuit of the supernatural, she had completed a degree in extraterrestrial life and had then opened her own research centre in her hometown, Spice City, which specialised in both telepathy and aliens. Followed by a loyal group of supporters, with some originating from all the way back in _middle school,_ she was sure nothing could go wrong.

She was, of course, proven wrong, when her loyal group turned out to not be quite so loyal.

"Come on, you have to give at least a month's notice!" she yelled, as she chased after the scientist.

"Nuh-uh," he cried in a fear-driven tone, rushing towards the entrance. "You can't make me come back! I'm sick and tired of working here! I'm the laughing stock of the science community!" he ranted. "I'm going to go work somewhere with a future! Geology!"

"Geology's not a real science and has no future! Jo-kun!" she snapped, but the young scientist was gone, having successfully escaped the building. She stood by the entrance, huffing and in a foul mood.

"There goes our last scientist." Kijibayashi commented, as he looked in the direction Jo had run in.

"Excuse me?" she snapped, shooting him a glare.

"A-ah, except for you, of course!" he hurriedly added. She frowned, but her gaze softened.

"This is bad. No scientists means no research. We've already lost so much of our funding. With Jo-san gone, we'll lose it all!" Inugawa unhelpfully added.

"This is a disaster. I should have stayed at my old job…" Surata murmured.

"No, no, this isn't a disaster, it's still salvageable!" Tome insisted, turning to the three, with an angry spark in her eye. "We can still prove telepathy exists and that aliens are out there, somewhere! I _know_ it!"

"Funding's a real issue though. Um... Maybe if we could get the government on board with us? If we could prove that there's something to it, they'd be interested in this kind of research, wouldn't they?" Kijibayashi suggested. Tome shook her head.

"Governments can't be trusted! For all we know, they might have already _found_ aliens! Or are at least closer to it than us. That's why they wouldn't want us upstarts! And who knows? Maybe they're even deliberately sabotaging us, to get rid of any competition!"

The other three sighed. _Not the government conspiracy again._ Although she only half-heartedly believed the theory, she tended to get a bit carried away when she was on a rant.

"Even if they did sabotage us, that doesn't change the fact that with Jo-san gone, we've essentially lost all our funding. There's nothing left to keep this place running."

"Well, the IT department's still fine. And the janitor can still do his work," Saruta pointed out.

"But we're not an IT or cleaning company! We're a scientific research centre trying to prove the extraterrestrial is out there! And we've just lost the last scientist that isn't _me!_ " Tome snapped. She paused. "Argh, we need to come up with _something_ tangible! Evidence to give our benefactors… Or maybe… Maybe if we finished a project..."

"That'll take too much time," Inugawa unwillingly pointed out, as he thought of the many unfinished research projects. She closed her eyes and her brows furrowed.

"You're right, of course. By the time we finish anything, it'll be too late..." she admitted.

"Too late for what? We can still burn through the remains of our funding. So what's the rush?" Kijibayashi asked. She hesitated to answer and looked at the three guiltily. She then sighed.

"Tokugawa-san knows we haven't been doing well for a while now," Tome slowly admitted. "And he said that if we can't produce _something_ soon, our business…"

"Yes?" the three asked when she fell silent.

"… Will be shut down," she finally said after several moments. The three stared at her.

"You mean we'll be out of a job?!" Saruta exclaimed.

"That's if we fail to find evidence or something!" Tome reassured in a determined tone. "Trust me boys! We're the Awakening Lab! Our mission is to find the truth and look beyond what mankind sees! We haven't overcome obstacle after obstacle to fall apart because _one_ scientist left! All we need to do is… Is…"

She paused.

"Come up with a way to progress that will guarantee success," she decided. "But there's no point in trying to come up with a plan now. I can tell by your long faces that you're all way too emotional about Jo-kun leaving. Anything we come up with now will just be a product of emotions, rather than logic."

"But what about Tokugawa-san?" Kijibayashi asked. Tome shrugged.

"We don't need to worry about him right now. As long as Tokugawa-san doesn't know about Jo-kun, we should be fine…"

Tome's phone started ringing. She frowned, then hesitantly picked up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Tome-san, we need to talk…"

She paled. It was Tokugawa.

How had he already found out?!

* * *

"What kind of deadline is that anyway?" she moped. She was walking alongside Inugawa, who was the only employee that couldn't worm his way out of a walk and into staying at Awakening Labs and playing tons of retro video games with Kijibayashi and Surata.

"I'm sure there are laws against these sorts of things…" she muttered.

"Actually, you admitted that he's been warning us about this for several months now…" Inugawa pointed out, but she either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him.

"Closing down Awakening Labs to replace it with some dumb gym… Who does he think he is?"

"Our landlord? And, technically, owner of Awakening Labs…"

" _Co-_ owner," she immediately corrected. "What do I do if we fail? You, Kijibayashi-kun and Surata-kun can always find work with your degrees and experience... But me? My degree is in _aliens._ Who's going to hire someone like that…?"

"Come on Tome-san! Don't think like that! Awakening Labs isn't going to be shut down! We'll find proof of alien life or of telepathy and get some funders in no time!" Inugawa said enthusiastically, in an attempt to comfort her. She looked at him for a few moments and he almost thought his fake enthusiasm had failed to lift her spirits. Then she smiled.

"You're right! Telepaths and aliens are probably everywhere! We just haven't been looking in the right places! This isn't a set-back! It's a step forward! We've got to expand our horizons and look amongst the people! Stop being holed up in a building and go outside! Outside is where they'll be!" she declared. He smiled and was about to reply, when something caught his eye. A mop of black hair. He focused on it.

"Inugawa-kun?" Tome asked, breaking off from her rant when she noticed that she'd lost his attention.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I thought… Tome-san, isn't that… Mob?"

"Huh? Mob? Haven't seen him since Salt Middle…" Tome muttered, looking in the direction that Inugawa was pointing in. Sure enough, there was Mob, accompanied by a kid, on the opposite side of the street. It took her a moment to recognise him, but only a moment, as he hadn't changed much since she last saw him. While he was admittedly taller, he still had that bowl haircut and that expressionless face. He was even wearing dark clothes that were reminiscent of his old school uniform from Salt Middle. The black polo neck especially emphasised this.

"Ah, so it is!" she exclaimed.

"Should we call out to him?" Inugawa wondered, but Tome interrupted him by immediately and loudly shouting "Mob-kun!"

He didn't hear her, so she called again.

"Hey! Mob!"

 _That_ caught his attention. He turned sharply in their direction, with that eerily expressionless face looking directly at them. Then, the faintest of smiles appeared and he raised a hand to wave back in greeting. He had recognised them. For a second, both were surprised to see the expression though. They had never seen him _smile_ before...

The boy that was accompanying Mob continued walking for a few moments and had even already stepped out onto the crossing, before noticing that Mob wasn't by his side anymore. He paused and looked around.

Tome and Inugawa started walking towards Mob.

What happened next was a bit of a blur.

The lights, which had already been blinking before the kid stepped onto the street, switched to red, but the boy didn't notice, as he'd turned around to look at Mob. Tome's heart felt like it stood still, as she noticed in the corner of her eye that a large lorry was rolling forwards, onto the crossing. Which the boy was standing on. The kid was too short for the lorry driver to see him standing on the crossing.

The horror must have shown on her face, because Mob immediately looked in the direction of the boy and…

… The boy and lorry were suddenly in the air. With a flick of his wrist, it seemed as though Mob had telekinetically brought the boy to his side. The lorry was more or less carefully dumped back on the street and sent its way. The driver seemed shaken. Everything had happened so fast that no one had had time to so much as even scream.

Passerbys looked confused, some chattering amongst themselves, but most quickly returning to their day-to-day business, not having time to stop and ogle the impossible or wonder what in the world had just happened. The boy stared wide-eyed at nothingness, probably in shock.

"Pay attention when you cross the road," Mob lectured, his brow ever so slightly creased in worry. The boy didn't seem to hear him… And now that she was closer, she could see that the boy was older than she had initially thought. Perhaps twelve…? It was hard to tell. He was probably in his first year of Salt Middle School though, since he was wearing the school's uniform.

"Are you all right?" she asked, concerned. The kid blinked confused, then his gaze focused on her.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" he hastily said, snapping out of all shock and gesturing wildly.

"I think he's in shock. Maybe we should sit him down somewhere," Inugawa suggested. Mob looked the boy over.

"He'll be fine," he announced after a moment of thinking.

"He'll be fine...? Really? He was almost run over by a lorry!" Tome retorted. Mob shrank a little.

"But he wasn't?" he hesitantly argued in a quiet voice.

"Seriously, I'm fine! Thanks for your concern, but it's not needed. Now if you'll excuse us, me and my shishou have places to be…" the boy interrupted, grabbing the cuff of Mob's sleeve and tugging him away.

"Wait!" Tome exclaimed. "How did you do that? It was you, right? With the lorry?" she asked. Mob stared at her blankly.

"Yeah, that was pretty weird, what happened there," Inugawa agreed. "And are you really already going to head off? We haven't even had a chance to talk yet! I haven't seen you since high school!"

"Well, I guess maybe there's no real hurry…?" Mob asked, cocking his head to the side. The kid (Mob's student?) huffed.

"Shishou!" the kid snapped. Mob gave him what seemed to be an apologetic look. Again with the expressions...

"Ok, there are so many questions I want to ask. But firstly, who's the kid?" Tome asked.

"I'm Reigen," the kid said, irritably. "And I'm his student and we're very, _very_ busy, so if you'd _please_ excuse us-"

"So you're his teacher or something? What do you teach him?" Tome asked Mob.

"None of your business!" Reigen snapped, irritably. "Kageyama-shishou, come on, let's go…" he whined.

"Just a moment, Reigen-kun," Mob quietly hushed, ignoring the fact that Reigen had even bothered to address him correctly. "He, uh, wants to train his psychic abilities…?" he nervously clarified to Tome and Inugawa. The two shared a confused look.

"Ah! You're a psychic!" Inugawa suddenly gasped. "Oh man, how could I completely forget?"

"Eh?" Tome asked, looking over to him. Inugawa smiled sheepishly.

"Can you believe, after all this time I only _now_ remember that Mob-kun has psychic powers? He used to show-off all the time when we were in elementary. Made things go all wiggly and stuff... Guess it slipped my mind, ha ha… ha..."

Actually, Inugawa had always thought he'd simply imagined Mob's psychic abilities. But now that they had been demonstrated to him again...

"You've known all this time?!" Tome exclaimed and Inugawa guiltily shrank away. "Mob, you have psychic powers? That's amazing!"

"Um… Thanks," he replied. He shifted from foot to foot. "So, uh… How have you been?"

The sudden change of topic caught the two off guard.

"Great! Excellent even!" Tome announced after a moment of hesitation.

"Our research centre is on the brink of shutting down," Inugawa continued, a little deflated. Mob looked confused. Was that what Tome was happy about? Their research centre shutting down? How was that a good thing? Why was Tome happy about that?

"Ok then," he murmured. "That's… good…?" he then asked, confused.

"Yes! Exactly! It's excellent! Don't you see? Mob, you could really help in our research on telepathy! You could save the research centre!" Tome exclaimed. Reigen and Mob shared a look of confusion.

"You're looking into telepathy? Is that even possible?" Reigen asked. He looked back at Mob, who only shrugged in response.

"Mob! We're on the brink of shutting down and then, after all these years, we run into each other again! It must be destiny, don't you agree?" Tome asked, grabbing Mob's shoulders. He looked back at her, a little alarmed.

"Not really…" he quietly said, remembering that she had said something very similar back in Salt Middle...

"A research centre for telepathy sounds pretty shady. Is that _really_ what you do?" Reigen asked. Tome glared at him for a second, but said nothing, instead looking back at Mob.

"Seriously though! Your powers, they- well, it- it just _proves_ telepathy has to be possible! Mob-kun, with your help, Awakening Labs can stay open!"

"I don't really see how…" Inugawa said. "I mean, psychic powers aren't related to-"

"The details aren't important! Mob, you have telekinesis! That's one step away from _tele-pathy!_ Don't you understand? With your help, I could be one step closer to fulfilling my goals and dreams!"

"I'm… not really interested," Mob hesitantly admitted.

"And we _really_ have somewhere else to be," Reigen added. "Mob-shishou, we need to go or I won't be back home in time for dinner and Mum wouldn't be happy about that."

"Ah, you're right. She was very upset last time, wasn't she…" he quietly agreed.

"Are you even listening? I'm pouring my heart out here!" Tome snapped.

"So? Why should we care?" Reigen flatly asked.

"Reigen-kun, be polite," Mob hurriedly said, looking a little embarrassed (seriously, Mob was being unusually expressive). "They were friends of mine when we were at school…"

"But they're not now, right? So you don't owe them anything," Reigen argued. Mob frowned for a moment, trying to come up with an argument against that.

"Look, Mob-kun! What I'm really trying to say is: please come work for Awakening Labs!" Tome finally offered, even bowing slightly. Mob blinked a few times.

… A job offer?

"What would I be doing?" he asked, curiously.

"We'll figure out the details later, but if we do research into your psychic abilities, we could probably find a way to link it to telepathy."

"So you'd basically be paying him to be your personal guinea pig?" Reigen asked. Before Tome could come up with a retort, Reigen added "Shishou, you shouldn't accept this offer. Your current job's way better." Mob looked doubtfully at Reigen.

"Your current job? What do you do? If you don't mind me asking," Inugawa asked.

"He hunts ghosts," Reigen answered, before Mob got a chance to speak. "And we're getting _very_ late for a meeting with clients now, so if you would puh- _lease_ excuse us…"

"At least consider the offer!" Tome begged. "Working for us is like- it'll be like being back in the telepathy club! Remember all the good times we had?" she asked desperately.

"Actually, it's _exactly_ like being back in the telepathy club, but now with the added pains of unpaid bills and taxes and- Ow!" Inugawa added, before being whacked upside the head by Tome. Mob smiled sheepishly.

"I… I guess I could consider it…" Mob decided.

"Yes!" Tome shrieked, jumping up in the air and pumping a fist.

"… But Reigen-kun is right. We really should be off now. Punctuality is important."

"Ok, ok," Inugawa spoke and stepped forward, taking out a business card from his pocket and politely offering it to Mob. "This has all the information you need on Awakening Labs. Come find us tomorrow morning. And by the way… For what it's worth, I'm sorry we fell out of contact. I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened."

Mob stared blankly at him for a moment, once again confused, but then his eyes lit up, as he figured out what Inugawa was apologising for. While the two hadn't ever been close, they'd been in the same class since elementary and had definitely been friends by the time they'd started high school. However, they lost contact when they moved on to their next stage in life…

"Don't worry about it. Catch up later?" he asked. Inugawa smiled brightly.

"Sure. See you tomorrow, Mob-kun," he said.

"Yeah! See you! You won't regret working for us!" Tome enthusiastically added. Mob waved goodbye, as he and Reigen retreated, walking down the road. Tome placed her hands on her hips and grinned. She looked back at Inugawa.

"See! Fate has spoken! It is not Awakening Lab's destiny to close, but to be revitalised! Inugawa, it looks like we've been researching the wrong thing! It's high time we start looking into psychics and espers!" she announced. Inugawa didn't respond, instead looking a little hopelessly at Mob's retreating form, feeling the tiniest twinge of guilt deep within him. Oh, what had he (once again) dragged Mob into?

* * *

Oh, what had Reigen (once again) dragged him into?

That was all Shigeo could wonder, as they approached the all-girls high school. It looked rather official and important and the complete opposite of what he was used to when he accompanied Reigen on these ghost-busting adventures. Usually it was some haunted spot in a rural area or an abandoned building in town. This was a prestigious private school with _a lot_ of people around, all important and probably rich and well-off and he _stuck out so much_.

Had he mentioned how many people were around? There were a lot. He had admittedly gotten used to using his psychic powers in front of perhaps a handful of strangers, but this many people? The very idea of so many observing his powers made him uncomfortable and a little nauseous.

There were only a few times he'd been willing to use them in public and those had always been dire situations, when there had been no other way. The most recent example had only happened just that afternoon, when Reigen had almost been hit by a lorry.

However, exorcising…? In his experience, most ghosts didn't do anything particularly nasty, apart from becoming an inconvenience to the living, with aching shoulders, bad sleep and the like. To use his powers, with so many people around, for something that _wasn't_ life-threatening…

"Come on shishou, this way," Reigen said, as he walked away from the main entrance.

"Huh?" Shigeo asked.

"The head teacher agreed to let us exorcise a ghost for one of her students, but she wants us to do it secretly, without others knowing. Something about a reputation? I offered to pretend I was interested in attending the school to hide the fact that we're actually there for an exorcism, but since I'm not a girl, the head teacher refused."

... Secretly… That meant no one would see him? Ah. That was good then.

"We're… Using a back entrance?" he asked.

"No. There is no back entrance," Reigen answered. "But there is an unobserved part of the gate in the back. We can sneak in that way. The head teacher knows about it, because she used to use it all the time, back when she was attending school here."

"Oh," Shigeo said. "If she knows about it though, shouldn't she do something about it? What if someone dangerous uses it to enter the school?"

"That's what I asked," Reigen replied. "She said something about how all schools should have a secret way in and out that others don't know about. I think I agree."

Shigeo frowned.

"I'm not sure I do though."

"I know," Reigen nonchalantly replied. "Didn't think you would… Anyway, we're here now. Can you give me a boost?" he asked, pointing to the school gate.

"Why don't you use your psychic powers to help yourself over?" Shigeo asked, as he inspected it. It looked more like a wall really, being made of brick and cement…

"Didn't _you_ tell me not to use my powers on trivial things?" Reigen asked. Shigeo shrugged.

"Is this trivial?"

"If you give me a boost, yeah."

Shigeo decided to help Reigen up, folding his fingers together to form a foothold.

"It's a good thing that you're so light," Shigeo commented, as Reigen climbed up. "Or we'd have a problem."

"Hey, if you don't think you're strong enough, you could always go to a gym," Reigen answered dismissively. Shigeo sighed.

"You know, this reminds me of when we first met," he continued to muse.

"Why do things like this always remind you of that?" Reigen asked.

"Sneaking into a place you're not supposed to enter? I wouldn't know," Shigeo replied.

"Was that sarcasm?" Reigen demanded. When Shigeo didn't reply, he decided to let it go. He sat down on the wall for a moment, looking around himself and admiring the view. "You coming, shishou?" he then asked. Shigeo grabbed the wall and tried to climb up, but found he couldn't lift himself up. Huh. He'd always known that he wasn't particularly strong, but this…

"Reigen, a hand please?" Shigeo asked. Reigen rolled his eyes and helped Shigeo onto the wall.

"It's a good view, isn't it?" Reigen asked, when both were sitting on it. Shigeo looked around, silent for a few moments. Then he shrugged.

"It doesn't look that much different from when you're on the ground."

"Sure it does! For starters, most people never get to sit here, at this very spot, and look out at the world from here. There are probably only a handful of people who ever have," Reigen explained. Shigeo looked a bit thoughtful at that. "But you're right, it's not _so_ exciting that we can afford to waste more time here. We're already late," the teen continued, as he clambered down the other side. Shigeo followed him.

"Where are we meeting her?" he asked, looking around the empty gardens.

"Actually, we're supposed to meet her here, but she's clearly not here yet…" Reigen muttered. Shigeo sighed deeply.

"Reigen-kun, please do not tell me that we just broke into a school for no reason at all."

"It's not breaking in, shishou! Why do you always have to be so dramatic?" Reigen retorted. "This is more… trespassing. Which isn't _that_ illegal."

"That illegal?" Shigeo questioned.

"Look, there she is!"

Reigen gestured in the direction of a woman who was approaching them.

"She must have been waiting inside… Guess that makes sense. It would be weird for the head teacher to be seen loitering at the back, wouldn't it?" he asked. Shigeo nodded in agreement. When she was within hearing range, she asked "You must be the exorcist that Muraoka-san asked to come. I'm Naito Mari. You must be Reigen-san?"

"U-um…" Shigeo stuttered. "I'm actually Kageyama. _He's_ Reigen- _kun_."

"Him? But… He looks like he's from elementary!" Mari exclaimed.

"I'm actually in my second year of middle school. Not that it matters, since I'm the world's most powerful psychic, irrelevant of age… Don't let that distract you though," Reigen stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Middle school… But still. How did Muraoka-san get a hold of you? Usually, psychics just advertise themselves, but you're too young to be doing that already…"

"I'm the real deal. As said, I'm the most powerful psychic the world has ever seen. As such, I don't need to advertise," Reigen explained. "I can tell who is in need of help without those kind of gimmicks."

In truth, Muraoka had actually only found out about Reigen, because she had a little sister who had friends that attended the same school as Reigen. The friends told the sister about the psychic weirdo and the sister had consequently told Muraoka about him when she had started talking about a creepy ghost haunting her school.

"Uhum, well… Then… Not to be rude, but if _he's_ the psychic… Then who are you? And why are you here?" Mari asked, redirecting her attention to Shigeo.

"I'm his teacher," he replied. "He asked me to come," he then added, shrugging.

"So… You're psychic too?"

Shigeo nodded. She hummed and looked between the two doubtfully. Reigen smiled softly and took a step forward.

"We're here to exorcise a ghost, right? So we should get started as soon as possible, so that this will all be over and dealt with before the next class, right Oneesan?"

Even though the words were simple and plain, it had a surprising effect on Mari. She smiled back at him and nodded.

"Yes. Right, of course. Ok. Follow me," she stuttered, turning on her heel and striding off. As the two walked after her, Shigeo looked at Reigen, a bit confused and a bit of… well. Something else. He'd always found that something was curious about Reigen. The teen was capable of somehow making the most mundane things sound heart-warming and even inspiring, if not flattering… He really needed to ask Reigen how he did that.

"We don't need to worry about running into anyone. Even though you're late, there's still plenty of time until the next lessons start," Mari explained, as they walked down the halls.

"What about toilet breaks?" Reigen asked, frowning.

"Well… Not to brag, but I run a tight ship," Mari replied, smiling proudly. "Students can only take toilet breaks _during_ breaks," she explained. "If they need to go during lessons, then they should have gone _before._ They'll have to wait until their next break."

Reigen's frown deepened, somewhat displeased with the reply. To him, the lack of permission to go to the toilet whenever seemed cruel. Mari sighed.

"I can't say I know where the ghost is," she said. "To be honest, I didn't even want to agree to this. I only agreed, because… Well, when I was attending school here, a friend and me could have sworn it was haunted. And the girls who are complaining… Muraoka-san… They all have the same fears and discomforts that my friend and I had, when we were here," she further explained. "So I'm leading you to the toilets."

A few seconds of silence followed.

"Why?" Shigeo asked, unable to follow the leap in logic.

"During my time here as a student, I remember there being a lot of incidents around the toilets and locker rooms. The toilets are closer, so we'll be going there. I can't guarantee that the ghost will be there, but it's a start," she explained.

They got to the toilets and she opened the door, letting them enter first. The two looked around the room, as if inspecting it.

"Reigen-kun, this is an excellent opportunity for you to test your psychic abilities," Shigeo said, looking back at Reigen. "Do you sense anything?" he asked. Reigen looked at him, wide-eyed for a moment, then turned his attention to the floor. He breathed in deeply and seemed to focus. After a few moments of tense quiet, something clattered in the bathroom.

"It's in here!" he announced in a serious tone, looking back at Shigeo.

Shigeo nodded and Reigen had to force himself not to beam with pride. He'd honestly just taken an educated guess. He'd had no way of knowing for sure that he'd be right and had once again been lucky that the ghost they were dealing with had poltergeist tendencies.

"Hm. And it doesn't like our presence…" Shigeo murmured, watching something seemingly invisible hurriedly flee the room. "Come on, let's go," he said, rushing out of the toilets. Reigen and Mari hurried after them. After a surprisingly exhilarating chase through several halls and classrooms, they soon found themselves outside again. Mari looked upset.

"I was trying to stop us from being out in the open where people can see us," she muttered to herself, looking around for possible observers.

"Yes. And the ghost knew that," Shigeo calmly replied. "Reigen, where is it now?"

Reigen hesitated for a moment, then looked around, taking in what he could see. The ghost clearly liked the girl's school, since it had been around ever since even the current head teacher had been attending it, which meant that it wouldn't have just left the school at the first sight of danger. However, it _had_ gone outside. Staying in the open left it vulnerable to attack, so it wouldn't stay outside for too long… Can't go back into the main building, so…

"It's gone inside the gym! I can sense it! It seems angry, shishou!" Reigen exclaimed, as he pointed at it. Shigeo nodded.

"Yes. It is," Shigeo replied, holding up a hand. An aura appeared around the gym. "It's even more upset, now that it's trapped…" he muttered to himself. "This may be dangerous Reigen-kun. Stay close to me and don't interfere. Naito-san, you too," he then spoke.

"But wait! The basketball team is currently practising in there right now!" she cried.

"So?" Reigen asked.

"Isn't the ghost going to be a threat to the students? It's really angry! Are they safe? Won't they be in more danger if we go in? The ghost's only mad at us!" she spouted. Shigeo either didn't hear her or ignored her, as he walked towards the gym. They followed him. Mari desperately wanted to ask if her students would be all right, but Shigeo's lack of response the first time gave her the impression that no, they wouldn't be okay, which was why he was refusing to answer… She was clearly in need of reassurance. Reigen took her hand and gently pressed it.

"They'll be safe. Shishou's taking care of this one. He's very experienced and I have faith in him," he comforted softly. She looked at him and he could see the terror in her eyes, her fear for her students, her guilt for possibly putting them in harm's way... But his comfort seeped into her mind and her gaze softened rapidly. She pressed back into his hand, then let go.

"Thank you, Reigen-kun," she whispered, as the trio approached the gym. Reigen smiled, then put his hands back in his pockets. They entered the gym, to see the basketball team currently in the middle of a match. A rather intense one, by the look of exhaustion on the students' faces. They all paused, when they saw the head teacher enter.

"Naito-sensei! I wasn't… Is there a problem?" the teacher asked, after motioning the girls to continue playing.

"Ah, well, n-nothing is… we should…" Mari stuttered, looking anywhere but at her colleague. She didn't want to admit that they were hunting a ghost, but also felt she had a duty to evacuate her students as fast as possible. Shigeo, in the meanwhile, remained oblivious to her discomfort and distress, and instead pointed a finger at the ball, following its movements.

"Where is it now, Reigen-kun?" Shigeo asked. Reigen looked at the ball.

"It's… the ball?" he asked, confused.

"Wrong," Shigeo answered and suddenly, there was a bright flash, as if something had exploded. Girls were forced back by a sudden gush of wind and a few scattered screams erupted from around the gym. Just as they began asking questions like _What was that_ and _Who are those_ _guys_ , a giant mass appeared above them that was only vaguely humanoid in appearance. Between its fingers, it held the basketball.

"You… psychic idiot. Do you really think you can defeat me? On my _own haunting grounds?_ To even go so far as to dare _trap_ me in it?!" the ghost snarled, growing louder and louder with rage.

Shigeo didn't respond, instead taking a slightly more protective stance in front of Reigen and Mari, reminding the two to stay behind him, while he wondered whether or not he should immediately exorcise the ghost or if he should let it talk, in case people wanted to hear what the ghost had to say. Reigen had complained about not learning more about exorcised ghosts in the past…

More screams rang out, as students scrambled away from the ghost as fast as they could.

"I am the scent-ghoul, and I will _destroy_ you for your arrogance!" the ghost hissed, squishing the ball between his fingers. He then launched into an attack, but Shigeo deflected it, by simply lifting a hand. It didn't look strenuous at all. Shigeo couldn't have looked more bored if he'd tried.

Yet, despite the small gesture, it still looked horrifically powerful and more screams erupted. As he deflected the attack, Shigeo redirected the energy straight back at the ghost and the scent-ghoul's arm exploded on impact with the volatile energy. Horrified, the ghost looked at Shigeo, as if seeing him properly for the first time.

 _Espers aren't supposed to be that strong!_ the ghost thought. He scrambled to come up with a plan to protect himself from this new and powerful psychic, but before the scent-ghoul could think much more, Shigeo launched into his own attack and defeated the ghost within seconds. Ripped to shreds, the scent-ghoul stared blankly at the girls before him, who all shrank away in fear, and the ghoul thought _It was fun while it lasted,_ before the newly released psychic energy forced the ghost to explode.

Once again, the entire gym was blinded by bright light. There was a moment of stunned silence, before waves of cheers broke out as one half of the girls approached the two exorcists and uttered their thanks, while the other half wondered what had even happened and wow, how they were lucky to still be alive ("I've gotta tweet this!").

Reigen, of course, had no problem with the sudden amount of attention and took it all in his stride. Shigeo, however, was unused to the amount of overwhelmingly positive feedback and did his best impression of a tortoise retreating into its shell, standing (or arguably hiding) behind Reigen as the teen basked in the glory (despite not having done much).

Over the chatter however, Shigeo could hear the ghost, murmuring in the background, still managing to somehow exist. In the corner of his eye, Shigeo could see a dark cloud – the remnants of the scent-ghoul. He looked up. The ghost stared back at him, as it grew more and more human in appearance, as years of life as a ghost were stripped away from him, taking with it all the ghoulish mutations.

"You… I didn't notice before, but… You're like me. I see it now. Even now, you're deflecting any compliments they give you… You're letting some kid accept them in your place… Hiding, withdrawn… You're playing the loser role, aren't you?… All the way into adulthood… You're what I would have become, had I grown up… Oh… Then I'm glad I died when I did… In death, at least, I had fun…"

Finally, the last layer was reached and for a moment, the ghost looked utterly human. Then the dark cloud evaporated and so too went the image of the human. The words the ghost had uttered though, they remained behind and would soon take up haunting in Shigeo's mind. Although barely noticeable, Shigeo did, in fact, look horrified.

 _The loser role…?_

* * *

 **This is part one of _Doubts_ _about Business._ I wasn't going to split the chapter in two, but it became surprisingly long. So the next update will be a short chapter, resolving this one. Hope you don't mind! It should update Friday or Saturday.**

 **Also, in light of recent revelations in the manga, Takenaka was replaced with OC Jo-kun (the replacement gives me more flexibility on how I wish to use Takenaka later on). Alas, Jo-kun will likely not appear again after this chapter. Fare well Jo-kun, we hardly knew thee.**

 **And thanks for the reviews! I honestly wasn't expecting any, so I got super psyched when I _did_ receive some. I _did_ consider posting to AO3, but I don't have an account there and has always been my regular hang. :O I'm too old to change now!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Doubts About Business Part 2

"Reigen-kun, please don't be mad at me," Shigeo said, trying desperately to appease his student. Reigen didn't respond for a moment, too busy fuming silently a few paces ahead of him.

"Why?" he then demanded. "You embarrassed me in front of Naito-sensei!"

"I didn't realise that it would affect your pay…" Shigeo tried to comfort.

"I could have had so much money. Coulda used it to… I don't know! Get a new... Phone? Or something?! But no! You let slip that according to my own fees, I was overcharging them! And then you pointed out that you did most of the work!"

"You still got paid, didn't you?" Shigeo hesitantly asked.

"It's not pay! It's pocket money!" Reigen snapped. "I've never felt more patronised in my life! Bet she thought I was ten too. I'm nearly fourteen, you know!"

"I know, Reigen-kun, I know…" Shigeo replied. "She did still pay you more than your usual clients would…"

"My usual clients are kids like me! All they've got is whatever their parents gave them, which usually isn't much! That's why my fees are low, shishou! But Naito-sensei, she's a head teacher of a prestigious school! She could well afford a higher charge. And you know what? My price was still less than that of a professional psychic!"

"Reigen-kun, charging her more than your other clients because she's rich is still sleazy, even if you don't charge as much as a professional," Shigeo stated, bluntly. "You should charge everyone at the same rate, irrelevant of how wealthy they are. Unless they can't even afford it… Then I guess you could come up with an alternate arrangement…"

"Why is it ok to adjust fees according to how poor someone is, but not according to how rich?" Reigen demanded. Shigeo hesitated, unable to come up with an answer. It just seemed so... Ambiguously wrong.

"I'll make it up to you?" Shigeo finally asked. When Reigen snorted derisively, Shigeo added "I didn't get paid at all. And you do realise I didn't have to come with you today, don't you?"

For some reason, that successfully calmed Reigen's anger. Shigeo wasn't quite sure why though. Facts usually didn't work. The teen sighed.

"How would you make it up to me, anyway?" Reigen asked.

"Well, there's that arcade you like going to. We could go there, instead of having our usual lessons next time," Shigeo suggested. Reigen looked back at him, for a moment.

"That would be cool…" he admitted, looking at his shoes. "But the arcade's closed."

Shigeo frowned slightly, confused.

"Really? Why? It was doing fine, last time I saw it…"

"I don't know the exact details, but my mum said something about the owner being too fond of children. Don't know what that's supposed to mean. Either way, with the owner and, well, only employee gone, the arcade's closed for good."

Shigeo hummed in response and decided not to tell Reigen what his mother probably meant. He was relieved to know that the guy had been caught…

"That's a shame," he softly admitted. "It's the only arcade nearby…"

"I know!" Reigen replied. "And all my high-scores are permanently lost now! That's a real pain…"

"I guess I'll have to find another way to make it up to you then," Shigeo mumbled. Reigen looked at him surprised. His expression softened.

"No... No. You don't have to, shishou," Reigen replied, tiredly. "You… You'll never owe me anything. Thanks for coming. I know you had to rearrange your shifts to accompany me…" he quietly admitted. Shigeo smiled and ruffled Reigen's hair.

"It's fine. But I do hope you learnt something today."

Reigen knocked the hand way, grinning.

"Well, I mean, yeah. Of course I did. You hogged all the glory! So if I want to exorcise a ghost, I have to do it before you go all predator on it."

"Predator?"

"It's a classic film. You should watch it some time."

"Hm…"

That wasn't what Shigeo had hoped Reigen would learn and he wasn't entirely sure what the kid meant by "hogging the glory" (since Reigen had been the one to soak up all the compliments), but if he thought he'd learnt something… Well. Then it had to have been productive for Reigen. Even if he hadn't learnt what Shigeo wanted him to realise…

"By the way, what are you going to do about the Awakening Labs, shishou?" Reigen casually asked.

"Awakening…? Oh, yes… I forgot…" Shigeo muttered. He hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know."

Reigen gave him a disbelieving look, before returning his gaze to the streets ahead with a more neutral expression.

"Do you want to work for them?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Not really," Shigeo honestly answered.

"Then don't work for them. It's that simple," Reigen concluded.

"They said they needed me…" Shigeo hesitantly said.

"Yeah, but do you really want to work for a research centre that's about to go bust?" Reigen countered. Shigeo looked thoughtfully at the ground.

"Not really."

"I think they're just desperately grasping at straws," Reigen continued to explain. "The neesan that was so desperate to get you to work for them…"

"Kurata-san."

"Yeah, her. I think this is more her venture. The guy with her-"

"Inugawa-kun."

"Yeah, him. He didn't seem as enthusiastic about it. At all. Prefers… Doing whatever it was you did back at the telepathy club."

"What makes you think that?"

"He mentioned it, remember? He said that working for Awakening Labs is exactly like being back in the telepathy club."

"Hm… That was fun, I guess… But not very suitable for work…" Shigeo muttered to himself. Now that Reigen had pointed it out… He really shouldn't accept the offer. "Thank you, Reigen-kun."

"For what?" Reigen asked. Shigeo smiled.

"For being around," he answered.

The two reached a crossing.

"This is where our paths split. Can you get home all right from here?" Shigeo asked.

"I'm not a baby anymore," Reigen retorted. "I can get home just fine by myself."

"Of course you can. I was just wondering if you wanted extra company, since you went through a lot today," Shigeo replied, a little confused. He couldn't understand Reigen's sudden knee jerk reaction to his harmless inquiry. Reigen sighed.

"I know, sorry shishou. I guess I am still a little shaken... But I can get home fine by myself."

"Well, see you soon then," Shigeo said.

"Yeah! See you!" Reigen replied. He retreated down the street, but hesitantly looked back, to see Shigeo disappear around the corner. Reigen sighed deeply, feeling a little bad for snapping at his shishou so often within such a small space of time, but shrugged it off. It didn't seem to bother Shigeo, so no harm done, right?

He continued to walk home, occasionally looking over his shoulder, whenever he felt watched. He really had to stop listening to those stupid urban legends. There were no fiendish, ghostly women around that were going to ask him if he thought she was pretty. He shouldn't be so paranoid.

When he got home, he was disappointed to find no parents present. On the fridge, he found two notes. One said "Sorry family, last minute work dropped in. Will be back late, don't wait up - Dad" and the other "Sorry Acchan, surprise shift at hospital again. Dinner's in the microwave - Mum".

Reigen got right away to warming up his food and did his homework as he ate. He accidentally knocked over his mug of hot chocolate while eating though and it smashed against the floor. After he cleaned up the mess of shards and chocolate milk, he decided that he could use his money, limited as it was, on a new mug. After finishing his dinner, his homework and any mess he'd created along the way, he went to check his emails, to see if any more requests for paranormal investigation had come in. Not seeing any, he browsed the internet for a bit, until he got too tired to work.

He plopped himself down on the sofa and watched TV, thinking about what else he could do with the money he'd earned. Mob had, of course, been right. Despite being 'underpaid', Reigen had still earned more than he usually would. He could easily buy five excellent quality mugs with the money. He took out the five thousand yen bill and examined it. He could always treat Mob to something nice though. Mob was always treating him, so why not the other way around? Perhaps yakinku? That would be cool… He sighed and stuffed it back in his pocket, tuning back into the TV.

" _… It has been almost fourteen years since anyone last stepped into the Asagiri Mansion, an abandoned property on the outskirts of Spice City. To this day…_ "

Reigen sighed and flicked to a different channel. He didn't particularly want to watch the news at that moment. He kept flicking, until he landed on a film channel that was currently airing some B movie. Ah! This is perfect! He thought to himself and started watching.

Ten minutes in and he'd fallen asleep.

Well. It had been a long day.

* * *

"… Sadly, she's broken her leg, so it looks like I might not have anyone to run with. I mean, I'll still participate in the marathon, but it just won't be as much fun without a friend. Well, it's for charity, so having fun isn't really the thing that matters… Mob-kun? Are you listening?"

Shigeo looked up from his glass of milk.

"Hm?" he asked. Tsubomi frowned, in response, which set off all sorts of flags in his mind.

"Is something bothering you? Or am I boring you?" she asked flatly.

"No, no! You're not… I just, um… I was thinking. Sorry," he quietly admitted. He hadn't meant to zone out on _her_. Her frown faded a little, melting into concern instead.

"Thinking, huh? About what?"

"I-I wouldn't want to burden you," he replied dismissively, looking away. Tsubomi propped her head in her hand, and looked at him. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the barkeeper perk up a bit, as if suddenly interested in the conversation.

"You know I'm a teacher, right? Part of my role is listening to my students, to their problems and needs. Some teachers find it very burdensome, but not me. If teenage drama can't get to me, I'm sure you can't either," she stated. "Of course, I realise it could be a very personal matter, so I won't force you to say anything… But don't stay silent because you don't want to _burden_ me."

He gave her a shy look, then sighed deeply.

"I was… Just wondering… Wondering if I'm… A, uh …" a loser? Shigeo swallowed. He didn't want to say that out loud. That sounded silly and childish, even to his own ears. "I was kind of… wondering if I was living life to the fullest or… Or something."

"To the fullest? What do you mean?" Tsubomi asked, brows knitting together.

"Well… If… When people look at me… I just… What do you think they say? Am I wasting my life? Should I be doing something else? Am I even happy with the way things are now? Or is there something else I could be doing that would make me happier…?"

Tsubomi frowned. Ah, he knew this would happen. She was probably mentally ridiculing him or mocking him or…

"Oh. That," she said. He looked at her confused. "Does it matter what other people think?" she asked. He slowly shook his head.

"I just… I was just wondering if… there's anything better that I could be doing."

"Hm…" she answered. "That's kind of hard to answer, since it's a subjective matter."

"Subjective…?"

She looked thoughtful.

"For example… Um… My parents wanted me to be a politician. Or develop a reputation as a socialite," she explained. "Instead, I decided to become a middle school teacher." She paused for a moment, as she mentally replayed the many arguments she'd had with her parents in the past. "… They think I'm wasting my life in a job they don't consider very respectable or reputable. But I think I can do more good in Salt Middle than I can in politics."

As she explained, she looked increasingly sad and although it had taken several moments, it occurred to Shigeo that he should probably do something about it. What though, he didn't know. Thankfully, he didn't have to do anything after all, as she forced a smile on her face and looked back at him.

"So, according to my parents, I'm not living my life to the fullest. But in my opinion, I am."

"Ah! Like with my dad!" Shigeo said out loud, suddenly understanding what she was getting at. She looked a little stunned by the sudden outburst. "He says people that haven't smoked have never lived. I disagree," he explained. She smiled.

"See? You already know the concept. So what others think of you doesn't... Their opinions only matter if you choose to let them. So you have to decide which ones matter and which ones don't..." she quietly finished. Shigeo hummed in agreement. The two fell into silence, looking at their respective drinks.

"Then... Well, my problem is... Do you ever feel like there's... something else you could be doing?" he quietly asked.

"Sometimes," she admitted, almost as softly. "Anything specific?"

He shrugged.

"Not really. Just..." Shigeo trailed off, thinking of the scent-ghoul. "... I had a conversation with someone. It's left me feeling... Um..." Shigeo racked his brain for a word, the right one to describe his feelings... Only, that was rather hard, since unlike everyone else, his feelings had grown to become very subtle in adulthood.

He usually only marginally felt the shifts from anger to sadness to happiness. It was like a pleasant background hum he had grown accustomed to. Unfortunately, the shifts were hard to notice and sometimes he had no idea what his emotion had changed into, due to how similar it felt to all his other, quiet emotions.

Granted, that too had changed when he had met Reigen and much of the emotional numbness had begun to break under the constant emotional strain the boy had unleashed on him, but in calm moments like these...

"Confused? Frustrated? Dissatisfied?" Tsubomi suggested, but he shook his head.

"I don't know, just... Curious? Maybe...?" he asked.

"Curiosity wouldn't make you space out," Tsubomi argued. He shrank at her retort and guilt momentarily flared up inside her. She then clacked her tongue, dismissing her own words. "Well... Maybe you could try something new," she suggested.

"New?" Shigeo repeated.

"You feel like there's something else you could be doing, but you have nothing specific in mind. So... Just do something new. Completely outlandishly new, something you never thought of trying. For example... I, uh... Had a pretty bad break-up, some time ago. Right after finishing uni. It left me feeling pretty numb for a while. It was horrible, to be honest. Then, on a whim, I decided to participate in a marathon. Honestly, I'd never even dreamt of doing something that crazy, but I was desperate for something that wasn't a part of my world... To help take my mind off things. True, it didn't give me a new purpose in life or anything like that, but it did give me a little more perspective on... Things. That aside, I enjoyed it enough to still be doing it now. Although, it's usually a charity marathon now."

"Huh," Shigeo muttered. Something completely and outlandishly new? Could he even come up with something like that? He finished the last of his milk and motioned the bartender for another. "Something new. I think I could maybe do that. Thanks Tsubomi-san."

She smiled and he felt his heart flutter.

"Honestly, I'm just glad I was helpful."

* * *

The next day, Shigeo found himself getting up unusually early, so he made himself a proper, traditional breakfast. Or he did his best to, since he didn't have everything he needed on hand, such as fish or pickled vegetables. It couldn't be helped. It had still tasted good and he'd thoroughly enjoyed it.

Although breakfast had taken up a significant amount of his time, he still had a lot of time left until he'd have to leave for work. This was fine by him though, since he needed to drop by Awakening Labs anyway. He'd made a promise, after all.

As he walked towards the labs, he noticed that the building next to it had a large advertising poster in its windows. _Body Improvement Gym! Coming soon!_ He looked at it curiously. Hadn't Reigen said something about gyms...? Oh yes, right. If he was worried about his strength, join a gym. What a coincidence that he happened to find one now.

Thinking about it... Hadn't Tsubomi told him to try something new? Joining a gym would be good. And Tsubomi liked running, right? He remembered how she had admired athletes when they'd been younger. Now _she_ was the athlete, participating in marathons and jogging in the mornings... Perhaps he should get fit, in case she ever asked him to join her.

That sounded like a good idea...

When he buzzed to be let into Awakening Labs, the janitor opened the doors for him. Shigeo was surprised to find out that other than Tome, no one else was there. The janitor was polite enough to let him know where she was, but soon left to go about his business.

When Shigeo reached the main office he found Tome sitting in a chair, feet propped up on a desk and a portable game console in her hands. She looked up when she heard the door open. Her eyes immediately widened with excitement when she realised who it was and Shigeo very nearly almost immediately turned around and walked straight back out of there.

"Mob-kun! You came! Unexpectedly early too," she spoke. She sat up straight, her feet thumping against the ground in her hurry to look presentable. She made to get up, but seemed to change her mind at the last moment. "So? Have you thought it over?" she asked eagerly, leaning forward in anticipation. Shigeo shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"Yes..." he quietly admitted.

"And?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

"... My answer is no. Thank you for the opportunity, but I have to respectfully decline your offer. Sorry, Tome-san," he said (as he'd rehearsed), bowing a little to emphasise his regret. His eyes focused on his feet for perhaps a few moments, before he summoned up the courage to look her in the eye. He just _knew_ he'd disappointed her. The look she was giving him confirmed it. She stared at him for a few moments, then let out a deep breath.

"Can I know why?" she asked, looking down, so that her fringe covered her eyes. It made her look sadder than she actually was.

"My current job is stable. The new job you're offering isn't," he explained. "Also, from what Inugawa-kun told me, it doesn't seem like proper work. He said it was like being in the telepathy club? If I want to play games, I can... Was able to go to the arcade. I don't want that to be my full-time job."

"Ghost hunting is a stable job?" she questioned.

"That's not my job. Reigen-kun likes to make up the truth sometimes," he explained.

"You mean he lies," she said softly. He shook his head. Then he thought it over and shrugged.

"It's not entirely untrue," he replied. She sighed.

"I understand, Mob-kun. Thank you for being honest," she spoke, as she rose to her feet. "You know, I remember the telepathy club. When it was like this, hanging on by a thread. We approached you then too. Convinced you to sign up." She paused, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Here we are again. Hanging on by a thread. Asking you for help. But I guess this time it's different, huh? This time we're adults and this isn't about a harmless hobby. It's about a job."

She slammed her hand down hard on the desk, gripping its edge tightly.

"Well, one of us grew up. I... I should probably not have gone down this path..." she began to mutter to herself.

"Tome-san...? Are you ok?" Shigeo hesitantly asked, sensing that she may be a bit upset.

"Fine! Fine, never better, just my entire world crashing down around me!" she bitterly replied.

"Oh... well in that case..."

"I was being sarcastic."

He swallowed nervously. Of course she was being sarcastic. He should have paid better attention.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know," she bitterly replied. "I've known this was going to happen for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it. I just... I don't know what jobs I could take. I'm very specialised, you know."

"Oh."

"I suppose I could start a new business or something..." she murmured. "I have a lot of experience in that. I mean, Awakening Labs was very nearly my own creation. Had to get some funding from others in the end, but still..." she softly admitted.

"What would your new business be?" Shigeo asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I do have _other_ interests, not just aliens," she explained. "I'd honestly prefer to stay a scientist, but... Ugh, I'm currently the laughing stock of the local science community. Doubt they're lining up to offer me a place right now."

She slumped in her chair, clearly sulking. Shigeo, however, was thinking deeply. A new business... A new business...?

"What about an arcade?" he asked.

"A what?" Tome asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, um... Reigen-kun told me that the local arcade was recently shut down. It's the only local one too. If you were to open an arcade here, you'd have no competition," he explained. "Just a thought. Because you've already got so many games lying around here."

He motioned at the retro game consoles lying around the lab. Most were originally _meant_ for arcades, but had been bought for the staff-room instead. Having to pay to play was supposed to discourage staff from playing too much... But that had evidently not worked, considering just how many different games they had. There were probably more than enough to open an arcade.

Tome sighed, dismissively.

"I'm a scientist at heart, Mob-kun. I'm not going to become some _arcade_ owner..." she trailed off, suddenly becoming thoughtful. "Actually... If I can keep _this_ building, I could probably run _some_ of it as a lab. Arcade in one part, lab in another..."

"Well, anyway, I need to go to work now..." Mob began to excuse himself. Suddenly Tome shot out of her chair.

"It's brilliant! By running an unaffiliated business, I can look for aliens in _secret_! Any aliens amongst the people will never know I'm _watching them!_ And those boys can finally stop complaining about not having any proper work..."

She grinned brightly. "This... This could actually work! Hey Mob, do you want to work for an arcade?"

"Um... Not really..."

She continued smiling, undeterred.

"That's not a problem! Because with or without you, I'm going to reopen Awakening Labs as an arcade! _The_ _Awakening Arcade!_ "

She continued to rant and rave with pride and determination, while Mob watched her enthusiastic speech with something similar to morbid curiosity. Well. At least Spice City would have an arcade again.

* * *

And indeed, a week later, the Awakening Arcade opened alongside the Body Improvement Gym, with the gym using some of the arcade's backrooms as storage space (something the two owners and their investor had agreed upon). Mob received a one year free membership to the gym and a permanent reduction at the arcade for helping transform Awakening Labs into a successful business. He intended to use both to the fullest extent.

Reigen _really_ appreciated the reductions and getting into shape was appealing to Mob. And maybe, just maybe, he could run with Tsubomi in that charity marathon. Maybe.

* * *

 **Sorry that it took so long to update! I had problems trying to find an end to this chapter and I've essentially given up. Oh well. Fanfiction doesn't have to be perfect, right? Also, thank you for the many reviews! I was surprised...**


	4. Breaking Into A Meeting Part 1

Breaking into a Meeting

~ Simply put, I just want to find Reigen ~

Adolescence is a sensitive time in any person's life, an important part that can be easily moulded or corrupted without a moment's notice. It is in adolescence that the true character of a person is revealed, that a person's true passions and loves are discovered and when a person is most adventurous, creating experiences they will likely never have again in adulthood.

Some use these precious years to refine their skills. Some to excel in hobbies. Others to polish their talents or work hard in their studies. Some rebel. The most unfortunate fall in love, experiencing their first taste of bittersweet and often unrequited love.

And then there was Reigen, who didn't do any of those things (or rather, he did nothing noticeably different from his previous thirteen years of existence) and sort of went about his business with no clear goal in mind. He currently stuck to a job he had created for himself as a psychic. Although he'd actually started as someone that simply proved various tall tales from fellow students false, he had eventually fallen into this peculiar line of work.

He didn't mind, since it got him extra cash that he could spend as he pleased. He used to spend it at what he now called the "original" arcade, but ever since that had closed, he'd found himself buying things that needed replacing around the house, as well as saving up for perhaps a weekend away with his parents. They had been meaning to go on a family holiday for years now and nothing had come of it yet...

Sure, he still went to the new arcade, but he didn't spend any _money_ there. He'd long figured out a way of getting around having to pay. Kids with short fuses and an inability to ignore taunts would often fall prey to his tricks and traps. And the few times he _did_ pay, he usually managed to convince staff members to let him piggyback off his shishou's reduction (the only staff member that didn't fall for his innocent manipulating was Kurata. For someone that believed in aliens, she was _sharp._ )

Reigen huffed irritably, as he flicked through his emails on his phone. He'd received only one new assignment in the past week, which was a bit annoying. If this kept up, he'd actually have to agree to it and he _really_ didn't want to. Not only was the location of the supposed haunting pretty far away, but it was also at some upscale private middle school. And private _middle_ schools always set off alarm bells in his head.

He'd been "employed" by some rich kids from those kind of schools before and it hadn't ended well. To say the least, it turned out that Shoudou Kirin had friends in high places, that much like the obnoxious glory hog, weren't fans of Reigen. In response, the teen had developed a habit of instantly rejecting any assignments from rich kids in their mid-teens. They weren't to be trusted...

Unless, of course, they were the only possible source of income for a week straight. And Reigen really liked earning money. It made him feel like he'd at least achieved something _._ It was definitely better than all that schoolwork he was forced to do and Takane-sensei could dress it up all she liked, schoolwork was always going to be _pointless_ and _dumb._

Aside from that, rich kids could pay _very_ well. They usually got _way_ more pocket money than other kids. Being paid by this kid would probably make up for the otherwise workless week…

Reigen frowned, feeling torn between rejecting and accepting the request. Maybe he should go and visit Mob, to see what he thought about it. Then again, Mob could be pretty useless at times. And maybe not very understanding…

Reigen's train of thought was abruptly interrupted. He stopped walking and looked up. Opposite him stood a girl, perhaps his age, perhaps not. It was hard to tell, since she was wearing a smiling mask with bright red cheeks painted on either side of the grin. His frown deepened, but he said nothing and instead stepped aside to continue walking. However, she instantly moved to block his way.

"Can I help you?" he asked, irritated. The girl didn't react for a moment, but then she became animated, clasping her hands together and practically radiating energy.

"Oh, I don't mean to bother you…" she explained in an innocent tone.

"Really? 'Cause you're kinda blocking my way," Reigen flatly stated. She giggled nervously.

"It's just that you're not laughing or smiling. Is something troubling you?"

Reigen's phone buzzed in his hands. He'd received a text from his mother.

"Ok, firstly, that's none of your business," he replied absentmindedly as he read the text. Ah. His mother just wanted to know why he was coming back late… But how had she known…? She should still be working! "Secondly, why would you think something's troubling me?"

"Oh, I don't know. Have you seen people smiling when they're troubled?" the girl asked.

"Well, right now, the only thing troubling me is an annoying girl blocking my way."

"You _suuure?_ " she asked sweetly. "I'm good at sensing these kinda things! I bet something is bothering you and… Oh, oh, I know what it is! You're worried about your studies, right?"

When Reigen didn't answer, the girl twitched. A sign of nervousness.

"Or is it family issues? Your health? Love? A girl?"

"What do you want?" Reigen finally asked, fed up of listening to her desperately trying to suss out a problem. He cocked his head to the side, with a bored expression on his face. "Because if you're only going to babble at me, I've got places to be."

He started texting back to his mother, explaining why he was late. The girl again giggled in that awkward, forced way.

"Sorry, sorry," she apologised. "I just want to see you smile."

"You seem to be smiling enough for the both of us," Reigen instantly answered. Curiosity drove him to add "Tell me what you want, or this conversation is over."

He really should have just turned and left. He would have looked so cool too, leaving on those last words…

The girl giggled.

"Well, if you insist. I belong to a brand new religious order that came into existence just last month! It's called LOL. Maybe you've heard of it?"

"Nope. Listen, you do you, but I'm not joining any new religious order any time soon. Plus, my mother dearest told me to never walk off with strangers, so there's that," Reigen replied dismissively, as he walked passed her, deliberately bumping into her shoulder as he did so.

"Such hostility…" the girl muttered. "But hold on there! You _sure_ you don't want to join? It's the happiest, most trendiest gathering of the century and it's all led by Dimple-sama!"

"I still don't care-"

"And Dimple-sama has the most amazing and mysterious ability to make anybody laugh _immediately_! It's like he's got you under a spell~!" the girl hurriedly added.

"Making anybody laugh, huh? _That's_ enough for you guys to worship him?" Reigen asked, as he turned back to her. All he saw was that smiling mask. He then looked back at the unsent text to his mother. Well… It wasn't like he had anything better to do. His mother wouldn't be back home until later anyway and his dad was working overtime again… "Must be a pretty interesting guy. Maybe I should meet him," Reigen said softly, as he deleted the text.

"Great! Come with me, you won't regret it!" the girl instantly replied, turning on her heel and walking. Reigen strode after her, as he sent his mother a new text, letting her know what he was up to. He was curious about this Dimple, whose charm and ability to make anyone laugh was apparently reason enough to worship him. It stank of con. And _cons_ just so happened to be one of the things Reigen hated a lot.

* * *

Shigeo looked at the water bottle offered to him, then smiled appreciatively to Kumagawa, one of the fitness trainers at the Body Improvement Gym. He took a few swigs of water and felt suitably refreshed.

"You're doing well Kageyama-san, but I think that's enough for today. We don't want you passing out again, do we?" Kumagawa asked. Shigeo shook his head.

"No, I can keep going," he calmly insisted. Kumagawa forced himself to smile.

"You really can't, Kageyama-san. You shouldn't push yourself pass your limits. It's not healthy."

Shigeo put the water bottle aside, looking pensive. They'd had this discussion before.

"But…" he softly started, deciding to finally admit it. "I've noticed everyone else seems to be ahead of me already…"

Kumagawa looked confused. "Everyone else?"

"Other gym members. I talked to Sato-san and even though we were both equally unfit when we started, he's now much stronger than me. Even though I go to the gym more often," Shigeo explained. "So… I must not be training hard enough…"

Kumagawa looked uncomfortable, but Shigeo didn't notice.

"Everyone's bodies work differently, you know. You can't expect to become as fit as quickly as others. It's got a lot to do with, um, genetics and whether you did a lot of sports in your youth and… uh… Nutrition…" he stuttered in his explanation. "My point is, you happen to be a little slower than others. There's nothing wrong with that. Pushing yourself to keep up with them isn't going to do you any good though."

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Shigeo didn't seem convinced.

"Perhaps that's why you're slow? You're pushing yourself too much?" Kumagawa then suggested. Shigeo looked at his shoes.

"Perhaps…" he muttered, no longer certain about doing more exercise before going home. "But..."

There was suddenly a loud thud as a door slammed open. Those that weren't plugged into headphones were all startled out of their exercises, looking in the direction of the main office. Out of it stormed a rough looking man, his face distorted with anger, followed by Shimura Ryohei, the gym owner, and Tome.

"You're the reason Spice City is going to be brought to its knees!" the man snarled, as he strode away.

"Onigawara-san, get back here!" Tome ordered and the man stopped and turned so sharply that she accidentally let out a terrified squeak and backed away. Unfortunately for Onigawara, this meant that Shimura had gone from merely being uncomfortable and annoyed to livid.

"Onigawara, your intentions may be good, but we cannot possibly condone that behaviour, let alone participate in it," he quietly bit out, as he forced Onigawara to a quieter corner. Onigawara glowered at him.

"This isn't like when we were kids! If we don't do something, the Vinegar gang's going to destroy this city! Their shadow leader has _gone off the rails!_ "

"I don't care! _We_ do not participate in vigilantism and we do _not_ aid gangs," Shimura snarled, arms folded. Tome took a step forwards, diverting attention to her.

"Onigawara-san, this gym cannot and will not be affiliated with crime. Your gym membership is cancelled from today, due to breach of contract," she stated, her hands on her hips and looking fierce. One could almost forget that she had been intimidated a few moments ago.

"Breach of…" Onigawara stuttered for a moment. "You can't do that!" he then snapped.

"You're just lucky we're not calling the police on you," Shimura retorted. "Get out of my sight."

Onigawara opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish, then turned sharply on his heels and once again stormed out. Tome massaged her forehead, tiredly.

"I'll sort out the paperwork," she flatly announced, as she headed towards the main office. The gym was silent, as they watched her open the door. She then turned to them, a glare on her face.

"There's nothing to see here," she stated, then disappeared behind the office door. Although a little stunned, the gym members quickly returned to their routines. Shigeo frowned. The shadow leader of a criminal gang…? Was that something he should be worried about? Probably not. Ritsu would have let him and his parents know if anything worth worrying about was going on. Then again, Ritsu had seemed a bit more stressed than usual and hadn't he mentioned something about worrying finds a few weeks ago…?

"Oi, Kageyama, are you trying to push yourself too far again?" Shimura asked, turning his attention to Shigeo, "You should listen to our trainers," he continued, disapprovingly. Shigeo paused for a moment, then shrugged.

"Well, either way, if you want to do a little extra, you can help Gouda-san unload his goods into the staff room. If you want," Shimura suggested. Shigeo looked back at the gym equipment, still uncertain. When he thought about it though, he didn't _really_ want to do anymore sets…? He nodded in agreement.

"I would like to do more, but perhaps this kind of exercise might be too strenuous for me…" he softly admitted. Kumagawa smiled, feeling relieved, and shot his boss a thankful look. Shimura didn't acknowledge it, instead slapping a hand down on Shigeo's shoulder.

"Come on then. He's in the back."

As the two walked towards the back of the gym, they got a few curious looks from other gym members, who were wondering why Shigeo, a fellow member, was heading towards the staff room. It was a fair thing to wonder. Members only came to use the gym, not to help its staff. But Shigeo was a bit of an exception. Several staff members, including the gym owner, had attended Salt Middle school with Shigeo and had remembered him as the guy that stopped their club from getting a room for their equipment, meaning the club never came into being. But they weren't petty about it. Rather, they had warmly welcomed him to the gym and since Tome and her staff members knew Shigeo fairly well, they soon started treating him with similar familiarity. Hence the special treatment.

Gouda Musashi was by his truck, unloading packaged farmed goods. Fresh eggs, vegetables, milk… All for the gym's cafe, which offered healthy fresh snacks and meals for their members. The cafe had actually not been something they'd planned on making, but Tome had suggested it, when they'd realised they still had too much room. Ever since then, she'd had some creative input into the gym and was officially a business partner to it. She'd also been the one to cut a deal with Gouda, who had agreed to deliver his bio-products straight from the farm. Especially since the Gouda family farm had been doing _very_ well since he'd taken over. Said man smiled when he saw Shimura and Shigeo approaching.

"Ah good, some helping hands. Just what I need. I've got a bit more than usual with me, so this could take a while," he said, as he took out one of the boxes. "Hello Mob-san," he happily greeted, as he handed Shigeo a box. Shigeo didn't comment on the nickname. Since the arcade staff all referred to Shigeo as Mob, most of the gym staff had taken to calling him that too. It didn't bother Shigeo nearly as much as he thought it would though. Who would have thought he'd actually missed his old name?

He took the box and almost immediately dropped it, falling over in his efforts to catch it. Both Gouda and Shimura looked concerned, but Shigeo got back to his feet, visibly struggling under the weight.

"I've got it, I've got it!" he reassured, as he walked towards the kitchens. Gouda and Shimura turned to each other, looking worried.

"Are you sure this isn't too much for him?" Gouda asked. Shimura looked uncertain.

"I figured it was just unloading a truck. I forgot how much he still needs to train…" Shimura admitted. "But it's either this or he'll insist on training further. And he always passes out when he does that… We really don't want to scare the other members into thinking we'll force them to exercise until they pass out."

Gouda scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah… This is for the best." He gave Shimura a reassuring grin. "It's just unloading a truck. I'm sure he can handle it…"

Shimura smiled back. He then sighed and looked at his feet. The conversation with Onigawara was fresh in his mind and he wondered if perhaps he had handled the situation poorly. Or if there was anything he could have done better.

"Is... something wrong?" Gouda asked. Shimura immediately wanted to shake his head in reply. Don't burden others, his mother had taught him. But he hesitated. He generally bit his tongue when with others, but he'd also always looked up to Gouda (both figuratively and literally). As such, he also had a tendency to be more open around others. He opened his mouth to speak, but then Kumagawa came running out the door, looking alarmed.

"Shimura! Gouda! Mob just passed out!" he announced. Shimura let out another sigh. So much for him being able to handle it.

* * *

Most people would feel humiliated after passing out in a public space while doing something that was the equivalent of carrying groceries. However, Shigeo's muted emotions barely conjured up the ability to look properly embarrassed, let alone humiliated. Still, it was obvious that he was a little upset about the whole debacle. His head hung lower than usual and his feet shuffled more than they did walk. His hands were in his pockets and he was, essentially, sulking.

He'd always known he was a little weak, but that he was also _slow_ at getting strong bothered him. He'd been hoping that perhaps he could get fit enough to run in that marathon with Tsubomi. At the moment, it didn't seem like he'd ever be fit enough to even run in a sixty metre sprint, not even within the next ten years. His phone began ringing. Of course. His day was never over without his student contacting him at least once _._

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He took out the phone, expecting to see Reigen's contact name as he flipped it open. Instead, he saw _Reigen Arisu_ written out on the screen. He frowned, ever so slightly, and answered.

"Hello Reigen-san…?" Shigeo greeted.

"Hello Kageyama-san. I'm sorry to call, but Arataka wouldn't happen to be with you, would he…?"

Shigeo paused, a little confused by the question. He always let Reigen's parents know if he was with Reigen… Mostly so that they didn't think their son was running around causing unfathomable chaos without at least some adult supervision.

"No, why?" he asked. Arisu, in response, burst into tears. Real tears.

"I don't know where he is and he's still not home!" she explained. "His phone's off, so I can't even track it! All I know is that he joined a – a cult! He said he'd be home at six! That was almost two hours ago! I'm so worried…" she admitted, letting her tears spill freely.

"What about the office?" Shigeo slowly asked.

"No, he's not with Takashi, not that Acchan visits the office very often… I've already called Takashi and he's on his way home now. Once he's back, we're going to go out to look for him, but what if we can't find him…?"

"I'll look for him too. I'll call you if I find anything," Shigeo announced.

"… Thank you Kageyama-san. Sorry for crying, I just…" Arisu apologised, sniffling. "I've never even heard of this LOL cult before… And Acchan is very good at finding trouble, you know?"

"I'll do my best to find him," Shigeo promised. Arisu muttered her thanks again, then hung up. Shigeo frowned, concerned. Where could Reigen be…?

Panic didn't bubble within him. He was sure that Reigen had simply pushed the limits of his irresponsibility again and that nothing serious was happening. But he decided to call a few people that knew Reigen anyway. They could keep an eye out for him and perhaps even name a few places that Reigen tended to spend time at. Of course, Shigeo probably knew more spots than anyone else, but that came with the problem of knowing so many that he didn't know where to start.

He dialled Tsubomi first. Sadly, she didn't know where Reigen could be, outside of perhaps the arcade that he had mentioned a few times. The problem for her was that Reigen never stuck with anything long enough for the place to become a place he'd spend time at. He'd left the dojo where he'd been learning shaolin kung-fu, he'd left the athlete's club before his first year had even ended, etc…

Shigeo promised that he'd let her know if they find Reigen, as she became increasingly worried after Shigeo had explained the situation to her in a little more detail. He then called Tome and she said that yes, she had seen Reigen. She'd actually had him forcefully removed him from the arcade, when she'd seen him picking a fight with one of the arcade regulars. Shigeo asked if that had resulted in a suspension or a permanent ban, but Tome calmly negated the very idea.

"He may still just be a kid, but he attracts a lot of girls already. I reckon maybe half the girls his age are only here because of him. And then about half of our other kids are just there to beat Reigen's high-scores. They pay tons just to get their name on the leader-board for a little while, until your student comes along to remove it completely," she explained. "He may be a brat, but I can't kick him out permanently. It'd be bad for business. However, I can't let him pick fights like that and he'd already been at the arcade for a while, so…"

"What made him pick a fight?" Shigeo asked.

"I don't know. Ah, but I think the kid he picked on is involved in some kind of psychic club or something. Maybe that has something to do with it, since you and Reigen go ghost-hunting, right?"

"Mhm," Shigeo hummed. Psychic club… Tsubomi had mentioned that Reigen wanted to join the one at his school. Perhaps he should ask him about it? If the psychic club was driving Reigen to pick fights with its members… Definitely something to at least try to learn more about.

"And you haven't seen him since he left?" Shigeo asked.

"No. Why? If you're looking for him, he should be home by now… Or is something wrong…?" Tome asked.

"Not really," Shigeo answered. "I'll talk to you later then."

"Wait, Mob-kun, don't hang up, what's going-" she started, but he'd already hung up. Shigeo pocketed his phone, thinking deeply. So Reigen had been to the arcade… He must have bumped into someone on the way back home from there. If he could backtrack to that point…

* * *

Shigeo had walked back and forth between the arcade and Reigen's home twice, when he gave up and started asking around instead. He'd initially asked if anyone had seen his student, but he soon started asking about the LOL cult instead. It seemed no one had heard of it. Either that, or they just didn't want to talk to him. Both were equally possible.

He'd been about to give up, when someone suddenly spoke to him.

"Hey Just-Milk-san. Couldn't help but overhear you're looking for LOL?" she said from behind him. For a moment, surprise passed over Shigeo's face, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. He turned around and came face to face with a young woman, who had a sort of smugness about her person. He looked at her confused and she smiled in response.

"I'm not a cult member, if that's what you're thinking. I'm Mezato Ichi. Investigative journalist," she introduced herself. "I'm investigating LOL right now and I thought I'd let you know that you're better off not looking."

"Kageyama Shigeo," Shigeo introduced himself. "And I kind of have to. I'm looking for my student. He was last seen with them and his parents are worried… Why did you call me Just-Milk-san?"

"I didn't think you'd recognise me. We're both regulars at the same bar. You're the guy that always orders milk. It's the main reason I remember you," she explained.

"Oh. Sorry I didn't recognise you."

"Hey, it's not like we've ever talked before," she shrugged off, smiling. Then her expression became serious. "Look Kageyama-san, I'm sorry to tell you this, but if your student is with LOL, then he's… He's not coming back."

Shigeo gave her an odd look.

"Why not?"

"This LOL cult… It hasn't been tied to anything yet, but I suspect it's the reason why so many teenagers and kids have gone missing over the last month."

"And what would Reigen have to do with missing children?" Shigeo asked, still confused.

"Seriously, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… No one's been able to find the missing kids. Sure, you can't prove that LOL is behind anything, since only a few kids have an official connection..." she explained. "... But the few that do... Look, if your student has attachments to LOL, he's probably long gone. Not coming back," she finished, looking at him with a little remorse and guilt. Shigeo, however, was not convinced by her.

"No. He wouldn't do that to his parents," Shigeo insisted.

"Perhaps not… But… Look, usually cults are pretty harmless, so I wouldn't investigate them. But LOL was only formed last month, which happens to match up with the beginning of the child disappearances. And after a month, it already has a large amount of followers, mostly consisting of people that have a connection to the missing kids, irrelevant of relationship. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"That still doesn't explain…"

"Why would family, friends, _equals and enemies_ of missing kids allbecome part of a cult? Unless they were baited. So perhaps the missing kids are with the LOL cult and they're not there willingly. There are rumours that they use hypnosis to force people to join their cult. As such, your student may have been taken as bait to lure in more followers. Which also means he's not there willingly. As he's bait, it's best you stay away or you're falling for the trap."

Shigeo became more unconvinced.

"Hypnosis?" he questioned.

"Just think about it!" Ichi hurried to defend herself. "Only very few people could possibly be part of this scheme! And how can a minority possibly control so many? Answer! Brainwashing!"

She paused.

"Admittedly, out loud it sounds a little far-fetched, but I _do_ have some solid evidence to back me up…" she stuttered, annoyed by how ridiculous she sounded.

"Do you know where LOL is meeting?" Shigeo interrupted. He knew it was rude to interrupt, especially towards a lady, but he didn't have time to talk to someone about reasons not to look for Reigen. Like there ever could be one…

Ichi fell silent.

"Well, um…" she stuttered.

"I know you think it's better for me not to look, but I _really_ need to find my student. He's my responsibility," Shigeo calmly explained. "He's good at getting himself into trouble too. Which is why he needs me."

"It's really not a good idea Kageyama-san…" she started to explain again. "Look, yeah, I admit it. I'm heading to a meeting right now. And I'll keep an eye out for your kid, but you should stay away."

"You know where they're meeting?" Shigeo again interrupted.

"Not… really… I know a few locations where they _might_ be meeting, but it's nothing certain."

"I'm coming with you."

"Kageyama-san, I can't let a civilian accompany me. It's too dangerous."

"You're stopping me from looking for my student?" he questioned, his voice suddenly hard. She looked surprised by the brief spark of hostility, but she didn't back away.

"Yes. If it'll keep you safe," she sternly answered.

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"I don't need protecting. Please let me accompany you, Mezato-san," Shigeo insisted. She frowned.

"If I'd known you were going to insist, I wouldn't have bothered warning you…" she grumpily muttered. "Will you stop looking for him if I leave you here?"

"No. I'll keep looking until I find him," Shigeo answered. She looked at him disbelievingly, then sighed. She had no choice. It was better to keep him with her, where she could keep him relatively safe… If he found the cult alone, who knew what kind of trouble he'd be in…

She looked back at him, resignation in her eyes. "You must really care about this kid… Fine. You can come with me. But if you get stuck in the middle of this madness, don't blame me," she stated. He smiled a little in response.

"Thank you Mezato-san," he said gratefully. She turned away, her hands in her pockets and eyes closed with frustration.

"… This is so unprofessional…" she muttered under her breath. "I'm going to regret this…"

* * *

Their first two searches were indeed met with failure, but the third time they'd found it. Not that they'd known, when they'd entered the abandoned building. Shigeo observed his surroundings, mildly interested. Once upon a time the abandoned building had been vibrant and alive as a shopping centre. Signs of what once was still haunting the place.

The broken centre piece that had once been a fountain had long been forgotten, no longer capable of attracting attention. Discarded baskets and trolleys lay discarded in various areas around the place and several shop windows had been smashed open and then abandoned, shards still littering the floor.

He returned his attention to Mezato, who was busy pick-locking yet another locked door. He couldn't help but think of Reigen as he watched her. It was the kind of thing the kid would do. Perhaps his student should become an investigative journalist then? If pick-locking and nosiness were required skills, it would definitely suit Reigen…

The door clicked and Mezato slid it open.

"Lifts? Really?" she muttered.

"That one's doors are open," Shigeo commented, as they walked into the small room. There were two elevator doors within, one was open, the other closed.

"Just another safety risk to add to the list… And considering how unsuccessful we've been so far, are you _sure_ you don't want to give up now?" Ichi asked. Shigeo shook his head and she frowned. She'd been hoping that perhaps by wearing down his interest, he'd leave on his own, but apparently boredom was not enough to deter Just-Milk-san.

They walked up to the lift shaft and looked down. At the bottom, in the basement, they could see coloured light streaming from an open door.

"Looks like someone is having a party down there…" she muttered. Even if this _did_ turn out to be another bust, the party might be worth an article…

"In an abandoned shopping centre?" Shigeo questioned.

"Could be our cult. Maybe something else. But the lift's not working any more, so…" she muttered pensively.

"Do you think they used these cables to climb down?" Shigeo asked. Ichi took out her phone and flicked on the torch setting. She turned to Shigeo.

"I'll go down first. When I'm at the bottom, I'll call for you. Understood?" she asked. He nodded.

She gave one last approving nod, before she jumped onto one of the cables, placing her phone in her mouth so that she could use both hands to climb. She tried to ignore the fact that Shigeo watched her with disinterest as she made her way down, no matter how unnerving it was to have a pair of indifferent eyes watching her at all times. It bothered her less and less the further she climbed down, as without light, he became just another shadow to her.

Before she reached the bottom, she noticed a hatch in one of the walls. When she inspected it a little closer, she realised that it was a vent. Through the gaps of the grid, she could see a faint light in the distance. Perhaps there was a window somewhere within it…? It might give them a good vantage point... Definitely a good place to hide. At the very least, they could check it out… She'd much rather not have anyone know she was there, after all.

Making up her mind, she swung closer to the hatch, holding onto it with one hand. With the other, she took out her toolkit, selecting her multi-head screwdriver and removing the bolts on the vent. Once she'd done so, she put the screwdriver away, let go of the vent and took the phone out of her mouth, ignoring the fact that it had become a little wet. As she wiped it off on the inside of her jacket, she called upwards "Kageyama-san!"

"Yes?" Shigeo asked, right beside her ear. She squeaked and jumped away from him, swinging back and forth in the shaft. She didn't notice how he only then grabbed cables to hold himself, the last traces of his psychic powers fading.

"How did you get down here?!" she gasped, as she tried to calm down.

"I came down…?" Shigeo asked, as if it were obvious. She let out a deep breath, forcing her nerves to steel themselves.

"Just don't sneak up on me like that again," she irritably ordered. "You scared the life out of me, I didn't hear you at all!"

"We're not at the bottom of the shaft," Shigeo commented, ignoring her statement.

"I know that. I was going to tell you to climb into the ventilation shaft here," she explained, motioning to it. "It's fairly large. Big enough for an adult to comfortably climb within it. Should make sneaking in easier."

Shigeo didn't look impressed by the idea, but since he didn't protest, she went ahead and started climbing in. Shigeo followed after her.

Some crawling later, they did reach a window. It was large and wide; wide enough for two adults to lie side by side. The view wasn't excellent though. They could see a stage, with what seemed to be a teenage crowd gathered at its edge. On the stage itself stood a shabby-looking teenage boy, but otherwise no one. By the chatter of the crowd, they didn't seem particularly interested in him either. Both adults wished they could see more of the crowd and less of the barren stage, but Ichi decided she could make do with what she could see. She smiled. What she could see was very satisfying anyway.

"This is it. This _has_ to be a LOL cult secret meeting," she rasped out. She shifted a little, in order to get out her camera.

"I should go down there. I can't see very well who is who from up here. If Reigen-kun is down there, I wouldn't know," Shigeo muttered, as he made his way to crawl back to the elevator shafts. Ichi grabbed his wrist, preventing him from leaving.

"They're waiting for something," she whispered. "It's best if we stay here, until it's over. If Reigen-kun is down there, he'll still be there afterwards."

Shigeo's neutral expression didn't change, but he stopped trying to go back to the lift. Instead, he fished out his phone and let Arisu and Takashi know that he may have an idea of where Reigen was. He instructed them to wait an hour, two at most, for him to contact them again. If he didn't and if they still hadn't found Reigen, they should go to the police. He turned off his phone before either parent could reply.

"I'm right about something! This must be, like, some sort of meeting for the missing kids!" Ichi suddenly said with excitement, as she flicked through photos on her camera.

"How do you know?" Shigeo asked and she showed him the pictures.

"Since I'm looking for lost kids, I've been carrying their photos with me. And look, see this kid? He's right over there!" She pointed at a tall, scrawny teenager with a Mohawk haircut down below in the audience. "He's been missing for a month now… That one over there has been missing for a few weeks. That one officially went missing yesterday," Ichi listed, as she pointed to various teenagers and children, both showing Shigeo photos of their missing status profiles, as well as taking photos.

"Could Reigen really be here…? He's not the type to run away…" Shigeo muttered, a little concerned.

"I've already told you. It's hypnosis. I'm sure your kid wouldn't do this to you- to his _parents…_ But I don't think he has a choice in the matter."

Shigeo frowned, his lips becoming a thin line. The very idea of someone forcing Reigen to do something… If it was _true…_

49%

Suddenly, the gathered teenagers cheered. Shigeo and Ichi silenced, as they watched a man, significantly older than the congregation, walk onto the stage. His followers were silent, as they keenly listened to what he had to say. The shabby teenager onstage looked uncomfortable.

"That must be Dimple…" Ichi muttered. Shigeo nodded in agreement. Dimple greeted his followers, his voice starting sinister, before turning into something warm and merry.

"Are you laughing?!" Dimple loudly asked. The crowd started laughing. Hard. No giggling or sniggering. Loud, boastful laughter. And it continued, with most barely pausing for breath.

"Why are they laughing? He didn't say anything funny…" Ichi muttered. Shigeo didn't comment, his brows furrowing in confusion. He didn't get it either.

"And… stop! Today, we have yet another new smile mate joining us!" Dimple announced, pointing at the shabby teenager. Now that both Ichi and Shigeo were looking more carefully, they noticed that his clothes seemed somewhat dirty and that the teenager hadn't shaved in a while… All indications that he was a runaway. Dimple proudly clapped his hands together, when the teenager questioned his philosophy and beliefs. The teenager got rather flustered by that, if the red shade he was turning was anything to go by, and snapped at a volume loud enough for the two adults above to hear "Oh come on, oh great Dimple-sama! You can't fix everyone's problems by _laughing_ at it!"

"Who might this be?" Dimple asked his audience. Ichi noticed that he sounded slightly annoyed. Shigeo didn't pick up on the subtlety. One of the girls in the audience put her hand up. She was a young girl with pigtails. Ichi was so surprised by her appearance, that she accidentally bashed her head on the top of the shaft. She swore under her breath.

"Are you ok?" Shigeo asked.

"Yes, ow, I'm fine… It's just that she's one of the high profile missing people. Daughter of some rich billionaire parents. Turns out they were pretty neglectful, so no one was surprised she ran away… Her parents started donating money to this cult a few days after she disappeared," Ichi explained, but Shigeo had stopped listening to her about halfway.

Instead he lifted his head a little, looking at the vent, frowning. He thought he'd heard something just now… Perhaps something caused by Ichi bashing her head against the vent…

"So sad! Another victim of bad parenting!" Dimple loudly exclaimed. "As we all know here, there's no such thing as a bad kid. Just bad parents!" Dimple proudly continued. "But even so, everyone is in charge of their own lives! You can choose to resent your parents and blame them for your life while making it worse... Or you can take control! For with a hearty laugh, even such pains can be healed! Isn't that right!?"

Dimple was answered with laughter, but Shigeo couldn't focus on him. He'd heard something strange again.

"Did something creak?" he asked, looking to Ichi for confirmation.

"Shhh… I can't hear what he's saying," she instead hushed, watching as the cult leader pulled out a mask.

"I think something's about to give, Mezato-san…" Shigeo murmured warningly.

"He's laughing!" Ichi gasped, pointing at the formally disgruntled, shabby and homeless teenager. "How? I didn't see any kind of trick or…" she stuttered. "But why is he laughing?" she continued, watching fellow cult members gather around the teenager and pat him congratulatingly on the back. "Those masks… Maybe it has something to do with the laughter…? Perhaps the trick's in the mask?"

"Mezato-san…" Shigeo repeated, but she continued to ramble, ignoring him.

"I need to get my hands on one. Perhaps there's some kind of technology in them? Or… No, that's too silly… But there's definitely something wrong going on here-"

The air vent gave one last creaking complaint, before it completely snapped and both adults slid out of it.

At least the landing hadn't been too bad, thanks to Shigeo reluctantly using just enough psychic power to prevent himself and Ichi from falling too fast. It didn't stop either from still landing with heavy thuds against the floor though.

Man, had that hurt.

* * *

 **I hate having to split the chapter in two! But I set a personal limit, so I can upload faster (and so that it's not too much to read in one go).**

 **Anyway, apparently Arataka is not a real Japanese name (some fans even believe Reigen Arataka isn't Reigen's real name, which would make sense, given its meaning and also the implication that Reigen intentionally separated and distanced himself from his parents in canon...) however the character for _Ara_ apparently means "New", while _Taka_ is likely derived from Takashi... Which means at least in _this_ story, he's essentially called Takashi Jr. _Also_ it's no coincidence that Arisu starts with Ar-. I actually wanted a female name beginning with Ara-, but I just liked Arisu too much.**

 **On another note, how should Shigeo address Arisu and Takashi? Because technically, he should call both Reigen-san, but then they both have the same name? How do you differentiate?!**

 **And for those wondering, no. Shigeo doesn't get a cut from Reigen's money. He has no reason to spend time with this kid that keeps pestering him, he gains _nothing_ but additional stress. I mean, he thought things would end once the parents got involved, but no, it actually got worse, it's almost like the parents are _glad_ Reigen is out of their hair for most of the day. XD **


	5. Breaking Into A Meeting Part 2

The congregation was stunned into silence for a moment. When Ichi looked up, she could have sworn that Dimple looked _unnaturally_ angry, even if only for a moment. What a nightmarish face that had been…

"Oh? And who might you be? Intruders?" he asked, offering a hand, "Or potentially new smile mates?"

"Hey, back off," Ichi ordered angrily, knocking the hand aside and jumping to her feet. "I'm Mezato Ichi, investigative journalist! And I now have _proof_ that your cult is the reason for all the recent disappearances of children! Why are you kidnapping them?!" she demanded, her hand pointing at him accusingly. Shigeo stood up behind her.

"We didn't mean to offend," Shigeo unhelpfully added. She shot him a glare, but he was unfazed by it.

"I've been on your tail for the past two weeks and I demand answers! Why are you kidnapping them?!"

"And have you seen my student? That's the only reason I'm here," Shigeo again unhelpfully added. He continued to be ignored. Dimple laughed and leaned in closer to Ichi.

"Kidnapped? I would never do something so vulgar. Everyone present is here out of their own freewill. Isn't that right?" he asked his congregation. They all cheered and laughed in response.

"These are all teenagers and children that have been missing since LOL first started up! You're the only adult here!" she argued, pointing at Dimple accusingly. "That makes you responsible for them. Don't you think you should have sent them home by now? They have family and friends who have been worried about them! I don't know about you, but it's pretty suspicious for an old man to be spending so much time with _missing_ minors."

"I am not an old man," Dimple corrected, sounding a little irritated by the comment. Ichi placed her hands on her hips.

"In comparison to your congregation? You could be a grandfather," she coldly stated, turning around on her feet to leave. "You're going down, mister. And these kids will all be returned to their famil…" Ichi trailed off, when she realised that the eldest teenagers were blocking her way. She frowned and stepped away.

"Now, now. No need to be so cruel to us, Mezato-san. How about a smile…?" Dimple asked.

"Kageyama-san…?" she asked, looking over her shoulder. He too was surrounded by teenagers preventing him from leaving.

"I'm really only looking for my student," he repeated, but he was ignored by the teens who were too busy chattering excitedly and laughing frequently. Slowly, Ichi felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She tried to reach over to Shigeo, to perhaps grab him and make a mad dash for the exit, but before she could, she felt something being forced over her head.

Both adults only saw darkness and Ichi immediately knew she was wearing one of the masks. Shigeo was a little stunned, but was too impassive to do anything about it. Ichi meanwhile desperately tugged at the mask, trying to get it off, as she felt something awful clawing at her mind. She tried to scream, but her voice came out silent. Shigeo remained unchanged, other than suddenly having a mask over his face.

"Now! Let's meet our new smile mates! First! Mezato Ichi, show us your most beautiful smile!" Dimple proudly announced. The mask was torn off and Ichi smiled from cheek to cheek, looking sweeter than she had for the past ten years. Everyone cheered.

 _No, no, no, why am I smiling?! I don't want to smile!_ Ichi's mind screamed, but she couldn't stop. She felt like something was drowning out her will and forcing a mock happiness on her… But it felt so nice… But- but no! It wasn't real, that wasn't what _real_ happiness felt like! But she hadn't felt this good in so long…

"And now the second! Kageyama Shigeo! Let's see your…" Dimple's voice died in his throat. Everyone was silent, staring at Shigeo's emotionless expression.

"Sorry… I don't feel like smiling," Shigeo emotionlessly explained. Slowly, the congregation started whispering quietly, anxiety clear. _Why isn't he smiling?_

The silence continued and Shigeo shifted from foot to foot.

"I'm just here to find my student. I can look for him by myself while you hold your meeting, if you like. I don't want to be bothersome..." Shigeo apologetically said.

"H-hey, Kageyama-san, what's with the sad face?" Dimple suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"What's with the frown?" Dimple repeated. Shigeo was looked at his feet.

"I, um... I don't know. I always look like this...?"

"But here we're all about good times! Smiling! So why won't you smile like us? Or are you telling me that you want to spend the rest of your life with that frown?" Dimple asked, teasingly.

"I don't feel like smiling right now. Sorry," Mob apologised, taking Dimple's every word seriously. Dimple grimaced, his fists clenching tighly.

"Are you serious?! You're seriously missing out here, you know! You're not living your life to the fullest!"

"A friend of mine told me that's a matter of perspective," Shigeo instantly answered, thinking back to that evening at the bar with Tsubomi.

Dimple twitched.

"Again, sorry, but I'm really just here to find my student. His name is Reigen Arataka, he's about this tall, should still be in a salt middle school uniform and…" Shigeo began to explain, before Dimple interrupted him. That was a little rude, but he chose not to comment on it.

50%

"Sorry. There's no man here that goes by that name," Dimple snapped. Shigeo blinked slowly, as if the words weren't quite registering.

"Oh. Well, if he's not here, then thank you for your time. Mezato-san, are you going to leave with me?" he asked, as he turned to leave, despite teenagers still blocking his path. Ichi wanted desperately to say yes, to just get up and leave with Shigeo, but she instead laughed.

"Of course not! Why would I ever want to leave?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear. _Kageyama, help me!_

"Oh, ok then… See you guys around, I guess…"

"Wait! How about a game first!" Dimple cried out. Shigeo turned to him slowly. This man was preventing him from finding Reigen.

56%

"Aren't you a bit old to be playing games?" Shigeo asked. Again, something angry glimmered in Dimple's eyes.

"It's a simple game! A staring contest! You compete against three of my most loyal disciples, my… Smile leaders! You all drink some milk and the first to laugh and spit it out loses!"

Ichi really wanted to warn Shigeo now. The mask hadn't worked on him, so he still had a chance to leave, to escape. But he was looking curious… Shigeo hesitated.

"I'd love to play, but I really must go. It's getting late and there are some other places I still haven't checked…"

Ichi found a real smile slipping on to her face, underneath the forced one. She was relieved that Shigeo wasn't so stupid as to fall for the trap…

Dimple frowned. He then threw his hands up into the air, as if surrendering.

"Fine, you want to leave so badly, why don't you?" Dimple demanded, in a tone that sounded remarkably less mature than before. He motioned to the door, the crowd parting neatly in two and forming a path.

"There's the open door! Leave!" he snarled.

"Thank you for understanding," Shigeo replied, bowing slightly. He then turned to walk away, but someone from the other end of the path stepped out of the crowd and effectively blocked the exit. Shigeo paused and looked sternly into Reigen's eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment, silently. There was an unnatural smile on Reigen's face.

"Oh, whoops. Looks like someone doesn't want you to leave quite yet," Dimple cheerfully called out from the back. "Is there something you want to say, Reigen-kun?"

"You said he wasn't here," Shigeo stated quietly.

73%

"I said no _man_ by that name was here. You'll note that Reigen-kun still hasn't quite outgrown being a child yet."

Shigeo couldn't argue that.

"Reigen-kun, what are you doing here?" he asked instead. Reigen gave him a confused look, then after a moment burst into laughter. Everyone else then joined him, laughing to their heart's content. But something was off about it. It certainly was strange enough to not only make Shigeo uncomfortable, but also _look_ it.

"Why are you… This isn't funny!" he snapped, in his usual soft tone. Such a voice would usually be ineffective, but for some reason this time it carried power. The laughter abruptly stopped. It was silent, before confused murmurring started up within the crowds. Their smiles had faded and they all looked disoriented, with exception of the newest members.

"Mob-shishou!" Reigen instantly called out, quickly running towards Shigeo, closing the gap between them. "I know it's not funny, but-"

Everyone suddenly started laughing again.

"I'm happy here! Why won't you smile too?" he asked, his voice instantly losing the serious tone that it'd had before. Shigeo took a step back.

"Reigen…?"

"Why won't you just smile?" Dimple asked. "You don't have a single enemy here! We just want to see you smile! To see you happy? Can't you see we're trying to save you from yourself? No one wants to frown like that forever, right?"

Shigeo remained silent, staring at Reigen, confused by the teen's behaviour. Reigen in turn cocked his head to the side, with a mildly amused, yet bored look in his eyes. His smile widened.

"Gee shishou. Get a clue already."

* * *

Words could sometimes bring back unwanted memories. Although Shigeo had long stopped thinking about his past, sometimes some words could trigger unwanted memories. _Get a clue._ No one had said that to him in a very long time. Most people ignored him and if they thought anything was odd about him, they politely pretended it, or rather he, wasn't there.

But _get a clue…_

Suddenly Shigeo remembered a time, when he'd still been a little boy. He and a few others had gone to their park to play after school, instead of going home immediately. They'd been having fun, until one boy had turned to him and asked him why he was still there, if he was so bored. Shigeo had tried to defend himself, but one of the boys had chosen that moment to slide down the slide and start behaving in a manner considered funny, waving his naked bottom in the air. The other kids had laughed, but Shigeo hadn't understood what was so funny about a naked butt… He hadn't laughed and it had bothered the others.

"Why aren't you laughing Mob?"

When he had failed to answer, he'd heard Tsubomi speak to him. She'd been with them too, with a few other girls. She'd had her hands closed together, as she usually had back then, and had been smiling brightly as always. She'd looked so sweet.

"Hey Mob," she'd said. Her grin had widened. "Get a clue already!"

He'd honestly forgotten that she'd said that to him.

In that moment, so many years ago, Shigeo had walked away. Not because he hadn't wanted to play with the other kids. Not because he hadn't been having fun… Her words had angered him. But he'd swallowed the anger and had chosen to leave instead. He couldn't let himself get angry. People got hurt when he got angry. He'd had to leave until the vicious feelings weren't so raw anymore. Until he could suppress them again.

* * *

74/78/80/83/87%

"What did you do to him?" Shigeo asked Dimple.

"I didn't do anything! He has simply opened his heart to the happiness held within!"

"No, you've done something to him, what have you done?" he demanded. When Dimple didn't answer, Shigeo turned to Reigen.

"Reigen-kun, we have to go home now. Your parents are worried."

"But shishou, I don't want to go home," Reigen answered.

"Kageyama-san, why won't you just smile already? Don't make me use my true power," Dimple calmly threatened, as he walked up to them. Shigeo knew that Dimple was doing something to Reigen, but he didn't know what. He was aware that it was causing him to feel tense though.

"True power…? What do you mean?" Shigeo asked.

"This!" Dimple exclaimed, holding out a hand in front of Shigeo's face. The teenagers behind him squealed.

"It's Dimple-sama's true power!" one shrieked, as they laughed harder than ever before… However, Shigeo's face remained stoic as always. Dimple stared incredulously at it.

"What the hell?!" he angrily exclaimed _._ "Why won't you laugh?! Are you a corpse or something?" he demanded, as he pinched and pulled at Shigeo's face, trying to phsyically force it to smile. Shigeo blinked slowly, as he started to understand what was going on. _Could it be...?_

Dimple let go of Shigeo's face and stepped away, glaring at him. Then his smile formed into a sneer and he cleared his throat.

"Say Reigen-kun, why won't Kageyama-san smile?" he innocently asked. Reigen looked thoughtful for a moment, then snapped his fingers as if he'd figured it out. There was no theatricality to it though. It was like watching a puppet on strings.

"Ah, sorry Dimple-sama," Reigen apologised, laughing, "I should have said something earlier. You see," he explained, his expression suddenly becoming mocking, "Mob-shishou doesn't _have_ any emotions. That's why he can't laugh."

97%

"Oh, such nonsense Reigen-kun! Anyone can laugh! But since Reigen-kun knows his shishou so well... Perhaps it's true? One last chance then. Be like us! You'll find yourself a lot more popular if you smile more!" Dimple promised. Shigeo glowered at him. If anyone had been paying attention to the floor, they'd have noticed that several stray dust particles and pebbles were beginning to float in mesmerizing circular motions.

"Why don't you make me laugh? You know. With your psychic powers," Shigeo quietly asked, his voice sharp like steel. Dimple hesitated and his bravado melted away.

"What?" he asked, staring at Shigeo disbelievingly. Then he understood too and he stepped away in shock. His bravado returned to hide his fear.

"I see. You have similar abilities… No wonder I can't make you laugh… And here I started this cult to bring peace to the world…" Dimple explained as he rambled. "But you… You won't change, will you? No matter what I do, you'll always frown... So you'll always be in our way, won't you?" He paused, then began chuckling darkly. "Looks like I have no choice! I must eliminate anyone that gets between me and my path to god!" he hissed angrily. Shigeo very slowly looked him in the eye.

"You're not even human, are you?" he asked. Dimple started laughing, though its merriness had long gone. Underneath it lay a powerful mind signal. Shigeo hadn't been able to recognise it before, but now that he knew what was going on, he also knew that the laugh was a mind signal used to make the congregation laugh. Only this time, instead of laughing with their master, the mind signal had a different order. The crowd lunged at Shigeo, piling on top of him.

"That's it, my good and loyal followers! Don't let him leave alive!" Dimple yelled, as he started manifesting outside the possessed body. Shigeo struggled against the mounting weight, as he looked at Reigen one last time. He was horrified. He saw nothing recognisable in Reigen. The teen stood still and motionless, as if awaiting instructions, his eyes blank and hands limp. He wasn't even attacking Shigeo. He had to be receiving separate commands from the others... He was being puppeted and given unique treatment, because of his connection to Shigeo. And now…

Shigeo's fists tightened.

He collapsed under the weight of the mob.

100%

RAGE

 _Get off me._ Shigeo didn't need to say it for everyone to obey. He silently got to his feet, as everyone else floated up into the air, including Reigen. Good. With them up there, he didn't have to worry about accidentally hurting them. He focused on Dimple, who was still manifesting into a physical form, despite having left the body completely now.

"Who woulda thought it? That a loser like you would be such a powerful esper!" Dimple asked from his cloud of pure energy. His voice had significantly changed. What had once been a low, deep timber, was now…

"I can't believe this," Shigeo drily responded. "That's your true voice? I seriously let myself be bad-mouthed by a brat whose voice can't even stop cracking every five seconds?" he asked.

"My voice is not cracking!" Dimple snarled, his voice cracking at every other syllable.

"I don't care. If your policy is to force everyone to join and kill anyone that won't, then come at me with everything you've got. You may find it a hell of a lot easier to kill me than make me _laugh,_ " Shigeo quietly snarled.

"Fine loser! You're on!" Dimple announced, finally manifesting a physical form. Despite its poisonous green colour, it vaguely reminded Shigeo of an unusually tall human wrestler or body-builder. The only thing ruining the appearance was an obvious baby face on someone who as a human couldn't have been much older than fifteen.

Shigeo's anger did not cool at the revelation. Now that it had fully surfaced, anything that had ever angered him, every memory of cruelty or unfairness that had been unleashed on him and all the bottled up emotions they had created were now free and writhing with an intense need to seek revenge. Dimple happened to be a perfect target, considering what he'd done to his student and his student's parents. As well as Ichi, he supposed. She was more of an afterthought though. Dimple launched into an attack, using leftover energy to hide his strike. He was laughing.

"What's up with the stern parent act? What, you think you're actually angry?! You, the emotionless man?!" he yelled as he slammed a fist down on Shigeo. To Dimple's surprise though, something strongly repelled him and he was forced to retreat.

"What the hell…?" he muttered, as he steadied himself-

He lost his balance. He looked at his limbs and paled a little. He'd lost the arm he'd punched Shigeo with, as well as the leg he'd first landed on when Shigeo's shield had repelled him. Another strong esper…? No _way_ was he as strong as _her…_ He reformed his limbs.

"Looks like I'll have to use my full power! Aren't I lucky?" Dimple asked, as he launched another attack, but he was again repelled, with what felt like blades slicing his limbs off. Shigeo had barely moved since their fight had started. He slowly walked up to him, with his face looking calm, the anger only in his eyes and on a firm frown. Dimple couldn't think of anything scarier. He was facing calm anger and calm anger was dangerous. He knew that from _her._ Shigeo towered over him.

"I haven't let my emotions show in twenty years. But you really wanted me to express myself, didn't you? It may not be a smile, but it sure as hell is emotion. So tell me, are you now satisfied?" he asked. If Dimple had still had a heart, it would have stopped beating for a moment.

After recovering from his fear, Dimple dissolved his form and escaped as a cloud, reforming further away from Shigeo. As he regrew his limbs, he formed his arms into blades. Perhaps sheer force wouldn't be enough. A sharp edge was needed...

"I won't be taken down by some guy that can't smile!" he furiously screeched. Shigeo actually looked at him pityingly for perhaps a split-second, before the anger returned, full force.

"I've already told you before, you're a little too old to be playing games," he said, as Dimple launched a more severe attack on him. Shigeo lifted up his hand. "I really don't have time to play," he stated. The shield instantly neutralised Dimple's attack, albeit this time it did not repel him. However, the blades Dimple had formed were flung away, both embedding themselves into the smiling mask logo above the stage. "Sorry," Shigeo whispered, just as his hand touched Dimple's forehead. "I'm terrible, I know…" he murmurred.

Dimple fell apart.

* * *

Reigen woke up, to find Shigeo carrying him on his back. The slightly energized peacefulness he felt around him also let him know that Shigeo was using a little of his powers to make carrying the teen less burdensome. He blinked blearily, as he tried to remember what had happened, but found he could only remember blurred snippets at best.

"What happened?" he asked, yawning. Shigeo continued walking and for a moment, Reigen assumed that Shigeo wasn't going to answer.

"You got involved in a cult. Your parents asked me to help find you. I'm taking you home now. We're almost there," he softly answered.

"Oh…" Reigen muttered, resting his head back on Shigeo's shoulder. Right. He remembered going to a cult and proving that their god was a fake… Until someone slid a mask over his head. After that, everything was _really_ blurry… He spent several hours there, just feeling good… Then Mob had shown up…

"Why wasn't your phone on?" Mob asked. Reigen grumbled something inaudible into his shoulder, trying to dodge the question. Shigeo sighed. "I didn't hear what you said…" he announced, disapprovingly. Reigen sighed and lifted his head up.

"I turned it off. Didn't want mum and dad finding me… Didn't want them dragged in…" he weakly explained. "Figured you'd find me before them anyway," he added, dismisisvely. Shigeo hummed neutrally.

"Still, you worried them. You shouldn't worry your loved ones," Shigeo gently reprimanded. Reigen grumbled something again, but otherwise agreed.

"How are you going to explain this to them?" Shigeo continued to ask, when Reigen fell silent. It was unusual for the teen to be so quiet.

"I dunno… I'll make something up I guess…" he muttered. Shigeo shifted Reigen's weight, then continued walking. Reigen frowned. It was obvious that Mob was starting to tire from carrying him around... But he didn't want to insult his shishou be implying he was weak either... Especially not immediately after Mob had gotten him out of trouble...

"I can walk you know," Reigen huffed, kicking his legs. Shigeo paused, considering this. He then complied and put him down. Reigen wobbled, but steadied himself quickly, leaning on Mob for support.

"Thanks for taking me home," Reigen muttered as they walked, trying to read Mob's expressions. He knew Shigeo hated using his powers and the teen felt a little guilty that Mob had been using them to carry him. Shigeo shrugged.

"I have a duty of care," was all he said. The two walked in silence for a while.

"How come you couldn't defend yourself from that ghost? He was pretty strong, but you're stronger than me, aren't you…?" Shigeo asked after a moment. Reigen hesitated.

"Fluke… Musta been a fluke… Everyone has bad days, right?" Reigen asked. Shigeo didn't look convinced, but he also didn't argue it.

"How do you feel?" the teen asked, trying to change topics.

"I should be asking you," Shigeo responded. "I'm feeling a little tired… Maybe a little sleepy, but otherwise, I'm fine."

"Yeah… I feel the same. But what happened exactly? I don't remember much… It's a bit of a blur…" Reigen asked. Shigeo looked at his shoes, looking as close to ashamed as he could.

"I exorcised the ghost," Shigeo answered. "Then I left Mezato-san to deal with the mess it created."

"Who's Mezato?"

"She's an investigative journalist. She helped me find you," Shigeo answered.

"You mean... You don't mean Mezato Ichi do you?"

"Yes... Do you know her?" Shigeo asked.

"I've heard of her before," Reigen muttered. "Yeah, she's a pretty good journalist, I think. My dad's pretty impressed anyway."

Shigeo again hummed. Reigen looked at him suspiciously.

"Shishou… Is something wrong?" he asked. Shigeo hurriedly shook his head.

"No, of course not. I'm fine," Shigeo answered.

"Then what's with the long face?" Reigen asked. Shigeo looked away.

"I… I can't Reigen-kun… Just let it go," Shigeo instructed.

"What happened? Why are you upset? I was there, I have a right to know," Reigen argued, irritably.

"… I lost control," Shigeo softly admitted. "I… I haven't in a long time."

"Lost control…? Of what?" Reigen asked. Shigeo sighed deeply.

"I don't know… I feel like I've done a bad thing…" he explained. After a short pause, he mumbled "... I've ruined everyone's fun. Again."

Reigen stood up a little straighter, frowning. A bad thing... The words helped make some of his blurred memories become a little clearer. He remembered – he'd deliberately turned off his phone to prevent himself getting his parents involved. He'd then been forced into a group he hadn't wanted to be a part of… Then Mob had shown up and he'd…

Lost his temper. He'd gotten _angry._ Reigen hadn't even known that Mob was capable of feeling, let alone _showing_ such strong emotions. He looked over to Mob, who was still walking in shame... But why? So he got angry. Everyone got angry once in a while, nothing to be _ashamed_ about...

Reigen cleared his throat, bringing Mob out of his self-pity and guilt.

"Dimple had used hypnosis and brainwashing on us, Mob-shishou," Reigen began to explain. "You don't have to feel bad. He was just making everyone dependent on him. No one was _really_ happy there, you know? No one was having fun. And I bet no one wanted to even _be_ there. I definitely didn't." He paused. "Thanks for showing up and exorcising that ghost. I mean, yeah, I could have done it on a good day... But today was a bad day. So I doubt anyone but you could have saved us… So thanks shishou…" he admitted, looking away to hide his embarassment. Shigeo looked at him surprised, then began smiling.

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"Hey! There's your smile!" Reigen proudly pointed out, grinning. Shigeo smiled a little longer, before he let it fade.

"Yeah. I smile a lot more when you're around," he admitted, ruffling Reigen's hair. That being said, Shigeo also found it harder to control his emotions around Reigen... Was that really such a bad thing though? Considering he otherwise only smiled around his family (and Tsubomi), he figured it was a price worth paying.

Then again, in a way, Reigen had been the reason he'd lost control like that… Perhaps some re-evaluation was in order. Mob gave Reigen a look. A normal human would have bit his lip uncertainly at this point. Shigeo remained stoic. Perhaps he could put off such an evaluation for a while. He couldn't just push the kid away, after all...

The two arrived at Reigen's home and Shigeo knocked on the door. Arisu immediately threw it open, as if she'd been waiting right by the door the entire time. She probably had.

"You're here!" she cried, ushering Shigeo in. When she spotted Reigen behind him, she immediately wrapped her arms around the teen, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Arataka!" Arisu happily shrieked, and Reigen winced in pain. He forgot that his mother's voice could be _very_ high-pitched when she was excited. He looked to Shigeo for help, but his shishou did nothing. Takashi then came running down the hallway, colliding with his family and wrapping his arms around his wife and son. They almost toppled over and Reigen suddenly looked very embarrassed. Both parents were crying hard enough that snot was coming out.

"Mum, dad, I'm fine, seriously," Reigen spoke up, hiding his annoyance in soothing tones. "Nothing happened. Just got carried away…" Reigen looked over to Shigeo for approval of that story, but Shigeo instead motioned for him to continue. "… I'm sorry I worried you," he sulkily added, glaring at his master.

"You're so grounded…" Takashi murmurred into Reigen's shoulder.

"But that's not fair!" Reigen immediately complained. Arisu laughed.

"Life's not fair," she answered. The two let go of him and returned their attention to Shigeo.

"Thank you so much for finding him, Kageyama-san," Takashi said appreciatively. Shigeo wanted to answer, but instead lost his balance.

"Kageyama-san! Are you ok?" Arisu asked, after she'd caught him. Takashi helped her steady him.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little tired…" he explained, once he was back on his feet. Takashi clacked his tongue.

"Here, I'll get you a coffee. It's the least I can do," he said, motioning for Shigeo to follow him. Reigen was about to trot after the two men, when his mother held him back, frowning disapprovingly.

"Don't you have homework to do?" she asked. Reigen stared at her incredulously.

"But Mum!" he whined. "Mob-shishou is here! I can do it after he's gone!"

Arisu cocked an eyebrow in response.

"I promise mum," he whined, giving her his innocent puppy eyes and letting his voice loll in such an endearing away. She caved instantly.

"Fine, but you're doing your homework immediately afterwards," she insisted.

"'Course!" Reigen replied, running after Takashi and Shigeo. The two adults were already in the kitchen, in the midst of making coffee, when Reigen reached them.

"... Anyway, thank you for finding Arataka. Where was he though?" Takashi asked, as he poured milk into the coffee. Shigeo looked over to Reigen.

"He got... carried away," he slowly answered.

"Yeah, just... I was being irresponsible, is all. Sorry Dad," Reigen apologised, linking his arm in Takashi's. His father frowned.

"Definitely grounded then," his father coldly stated. Reigen grimaced and looked over to Shigeo for help, but his shishou stared back at him blankly. It was then that Reigen decided he was on his own and he began coming up with ways to get out of trouble by himself. Takashi handed Shigeo the cup of coffee, with the ridiculous amount of milk, just as Shigeo liked it.

"What has you so exhausted, by the way? I hope it's not because of a certain son of mine..." Takashi spoke, eyeing Reigen suspiciously. The teen smiled innocently in return. Shigeo shook his head.

"No, it's... Training. I've started training. I must have overdone it again," he explained, sipping his coffee. He was lying, of course, but he honestly didn't want to tell them it was likely due to emotional exhaustion. Who got exhausted after showing a little anger, after all?

* * *

After the coffee, Shigeo bid the Reigens goodbye and went back home. As soon as he got back, he fell onto his sofa and went straight to sleep, without even taking his shoes off. He'd barely been able to stay awake when he was with the Reigen family, so to know be able to blissfully fall asleep was heaven...

Until the next day, that is.

He'd overslept, straight past the alarm. Again.

He slowly got up from the sofa, every muscle in his body aching from training and sleeping awkwardly. He rubbed his eyes, frowning in mild disgust at how dry and crusty they were. Today was not a good day. That was a certainty.

"Hey! I was wondering when you'd wake up! It's a lovely day, isn't it... Partner?" a familiar, ethereal teen voice suddenly asked him, from behind his shoulder.

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This was definitely a very bad day.

* * *

 **Again, this chapter end feels a bit rushed, but never mind, right? Now we can move on to Teruki. Let's see what he's like, now that he's never met Mob! I mean, this is as much an ageswap AU as it is an AU where Mob never met Reigen or someone to take on a mentor role in his life.  
**


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